The Blackout
by starfan88
Summary: A major blizzard hits Canada, leaving Jude, Tommy, Sadie, Jamie, and the whole gang stranded together. When the power goes out, the drama just gets started. COMPLETED
1. Chapter 1

I was inspired to write this story because I was thinking about what kind of situation in the second season would be a great setting for Jude and Tommy's second kiss. So here's the background for the story:

It takes place about a year after the season 1 finale, so Jude is roughly 17 ½ and finishing up her second album. Tommy and Sadie were together but broke up. Jude stayed together with Jamie for awhile but she ultimately decided that they were better off as friends.

I'm hoping you all will enjoy my story as much as I've enjoyed reading all of yours. I've already written or thought through a good portion of the storyline but I'd love to get your feedback before continuing. So please read and review--let me know what you think!

_I don't own anything associated with Instant Star, except for my own crazy ideas._

* * *

Jude sat taking it all in. Every beat, every note, her eyes closed. She let the song take over her whole body, bobbing her head to the beat and getting lost in every word.

"…cause if I take a chance, and if I hurt again, and if I let you in, could be my reckoning…"

Her eyes flew open. "There," she said, breaking the silence in the room. "It needs something. It doesn't sound quite right."

Tommy, who was also completely absorbed in the song, opened his eyes and nodded. "I agree. Not sure exactly what it is, though, the transition could be smoother. Maybe if we add another line or two before, or change the beat."

"The beat…that's good. What if we slow down just that one part?"

Tommy got up and walked towards Jude, where her guitar was sitting on the chair next to her. He picked it up and sat down. He plucked a few chords slowly and started strumming.

"Don't…let it be…save it all…don't waste it on me…," Jude sang quietly along with his chords. They continued to play the rest of the bridge at the slower pace and Jude smiled when she sang the last note.

"That's it. Perfect."

Tommy looked up at her and smiled back. "It's really good, Jude. Write it down before we forget. We're going to have to lay it down tomorrow, it's getting late and we'd have to set everything back up again."

"Ugh, okay. I hate leaving feeling inspired," she said as she picked up her black notebook and made some quick notes to remember what they had just done.

"Well, you can go set everything up again if you want but I'm just going to sit here and watch," Tommy said with a smirk, as he leaned back in the chair and put his feet up on the edge of the sound board. Jude was the best musician he knew but when it came to rewiring the equipment in the sound room, she was clueless.

"Umm, isn't that your job, Mr. Producer? I'm the artist. You're supposed to do all of that technical stuff for me so I can make the music. Remember?"

"Ohh, is that how it works?" Tommy sarcastically asked grinning at her.

"Last time I checked. And what gives you the right to say I have to do it anyway?" Jude asked standing up and grabbing her bag from the corner.

"Because I'm tired. So if you want to record now, it's all you, girl."

"Well then, I guess I have no choice seeing as rewiring the equipment wasn't part of the whole Instant Star deal," Jude said jokingly as she walked towards Tommy, who was still sitting with his feet up. "But tomorrow, if Georgia asks, I officially had nothing to do with this decision. 'I'm really sorry, Georgia, that we didn't record that huge hit song last night but Tommy said he would rather go home and get his beauty sleep.'"

"Ha, ha. Very funny," he said as he stood up and grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair. She was still the only one who could keep up with his one-liners. She always zinged him at just the right time and left him without a comeback. "I assume I'm playing chauffeur too?"

"Of course. Wasn't that in your contract?"

"No, but it should be. If I knew when I agreed to produce you that it meant adding an extra 20 miles to my car every day, I would've asked that they pay for monthly tune-ups."

"Oh stop. You love every minute you get to spend in that car, admit it. And what could be better—now you get the winning combination of me and the car?" Jude said as she flashed her big smile at him. He looked at her with a small smile, put his hand on her forehead and pushed her back slightly while rolling his eyes. "Let's just go," he said, not wanting to admit that she was right. She giggled quietly feeling like she had won that battle.

They packed up their stuff and started to head out. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw who was sitting at a desk in the lobby.

* * *

That's it for now--thought I'd leave you all with a mini-cliffhanger, but there's much more to come...enjoy! 


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks guys for your feedback so far! Here's the next part for you. Hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think!

_I do not own anything associated with Instant Star_

* * *

They packed up their stuff and started to head out. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw who was sitting at a desk in the lobby.

"Kwest?" Tommy said, seeing the back of his head. "What are you still doing here?"

Kwest spun around in his chair, clearly startled by their entrance. The room was completely dark except for a lit computer screen in front of him.

"Oh hey, man…hi, Jude…I figured you guys had left awhile ago. What time is it? I must've been here longer than I thought."

"It's a little past midnight. What are you doing?" Tommy asked quizzically. He and Jude crept closer to where Kwest was seated to get a good look at what was on the computer screen.

"Just looking at something online," Kwest answered, to which Tommy and Jude both gave him looks indicating they knew there was more. "Okay. I sat down to check my email and saw a warning from the national weather service about this blizzard that's coming."

"What blizzard?" Jude asked.

"The blizzard, the big one, that's coming our way in 24 to 48 hours," said Kwest. Both Tommy and Jude looked oblivious to the news. "They say it's the biggest one to hit this area since 1942," Kwest continued, his anxiety increasing as he spoke. "They're expecting a minimum of 2 feet of snow and winds that resemble a tornado." Tommy and Jude just stared blankly back at him.

He continued, a little more timid, "I don't know, I started reading all of this weather stuff online about the wind patterns and snow accumulation and the damage that blizzards cause, I guess I just got wrapped up in it," he said as he turned back to his computer screen. He quickly closed the website he was on, which Jude noted was and turned off the computer.

Tommy looked at Jude and then back at Kwest. "When did they announce this whole blizzard thing? I haven't heard about it."

"Me neither," said Jude. "And Kwest, you know how the weather people tend to make a big deal out of nothing. Like last year with the ice storm that was supposed to 'wreak havoc on the roads' and ended up being a light rain."

"Yeah, or over the summer where they predicted a huge thunderstorm and it managed to completely pass us over, they just never know. They get you all worked up so you'll watch them more," added Tommy.

"I guess you might be right," Kwest said as he grabbed his bag and jacket and stood up. "I don't know, I just have a bad feeling about it. I'm taking the Range Rover tomorrow just to be safe."

"Okay, whatever. But I'm gonna seriously laugh at you when therearejust a couple of flakes," Tommy said as the three of them started walking out of the studio.

"Do you need a chauffeur too?" Tommy asked, looking at Kwest as they walked through the doors of G-Major. Jude immediately hit his arm.

"No, man, I'm good. Got my own wheels. And when will you get your own wheels, Miss Harrison?"

"After she passes her driving exam, which will probably be another 5 years with my luck," said Tommy, not missing a beat. Jude glared and went to hit him, but he quickly moved out of the way so she just hit the air.

"Enough! I'm taking my driving test again next month. I only failed twice, that's totally normal," Jude rationalized.

"Normal for who? I passed the first time," said Tommy in his usual teasing arrogance.

"Me too," added Kwest smiling.

Jude stopped walking. "Thanks a lot, guys. Way to instill a lot of confidence in me."

"Well, if you ask me, that DMV is smart. They should be keeping people like you off the road. I've seen you drive. Once was my limit," said Tommy as Jude ran after him.

"Quincy, I'm not the one who speeds around my neighborhood with children running around," Jude said catching up to them.

"If you weren't always so late, I wouldn't have to speed," he said, looking down at her.

"Oh right, tell it to the cops," Jude retorted. They had arrived at his car.

Kwest walked a few paces further to his car. "You two—you're seriously worse than my parents. My grandparents, even. You're like an old married couple."

Tommy shot Kwest a look and Jude blushed, which Kwest noticed. "Whatever, I'm taking off. You two can continue your bickering on your own time. See you tomorrow," he said as he got in his car.

"See ya," Tommy said as he clicked the unlock button on his keys and watched a slightly flustered Jude get in to the Viper.

The ride to Jude's house was basically silent, except for the one argument about the radio station, which was a battle Jude forever lost since Tommy always pulled out the line, "When it's your car, you can pick the station." About 20 minutes later, the blue Viper rolled into Jude's driveway.

"Same time tomorrow?" Tommy asked as Jude unhooked her seatbelt.

"Of course," said Jude with a small smile. They looked at each other for a couple of seconds before she opened the door. "See ya then," she said as she got out of the car. Tommy gave a small wave and said, "Night."

Jude closed the door and jogged towards her front door to avoid being in the cold for too long. She could feel Tommy's eyes watching her. She fumbled with her keys for a second and opened the door. Before stepping inside, she looked back and gave a wave letting him know she got in. He waved back and pulled out of her driveway and sped down the street. She could hear the tires squeal as she closed the door and smiled to herself.

* * *

That's it for now! But not to worry, I have lots more coming... :) 


	3. Chapter 3

Here's the next part. Two quick things about the next chapter or two: These are more like transitional chapters. This one in particular gives a lot of background info on where Jude is in her life which might be less exciting but is important to the story and where we're heading. I promise, there is a point! Second, I love dialogue (which you may have already noticed), especially between Jude-Tommy but really with everyone. So I may spend too much time on little conversations, but I love them.

Please tell me if you think this is dragging at all--I'm not objective, I can't tell, so let me know what you think.I do promise that regardless, we will get to the really good stuff--it's coming soon! And without further ado...

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything associated with Instant Star, except for my own ideas._

* * *

Everyone was already asleep as Jude walked towards her room. She thought about the past year as she got ready for bed. Her mom and dad had officially divorced a couple of months earlier and since, her mom had started dating Steven. He seemed like a nice enough guy but Jude and Sadie avoided spending enough time with him to seriously bond. And her dad was still dating Yvette, the woman Jude had come to know as "The Other Woman." 

Sadie had graduated from high school and was now taking classes at a local college. Jude thought back on how hurt she had been when she found out about her sister's relationship with Tommy. When they came back from Europe, Jude realized that she had no choice but to accept them as a couple. She let Tommy back into her life but kept her sister further removed, as all Sadie ever talked about was Tommy, which made Jude physically ill. They broke up about a month later, though Jude didn't know why—Sadie told her that "it just didn't work out." She didn't want to push it with Tommy, who got uncomfortable whenever Sadie's name came up. Sadie had been dating someone new for the last couple of months, Ryan, and seemed to be really happy.

Jude managed to almost fully convince herself that she and Tommy were never going to happen, although occasionally, she felt the pang of longing to be with him and quickly pushed it away, telling herself, "You're 17 and have embarrassed yourself enough already."

Getting into bed, Jude noticed the ticket to the Interpol concert sitting on her nightstand and remembered she and Jamie had agreed to go to the concert the next night. Things between her and Jamie were…weird. They dated for 4 months but Jude spent most of that time trying to convince herself that she loved him as more than a best friend, but after months of trying, she gave in and told him that they were better off as friends. But Jamie still loved her and Jude knew it.

Jude turned off the light. She had all of these thoughts running through her head…slowing down the song…Interpol…blizzard…Tommy…as she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning came too quickly, as Jude sleepily walked downstairs around 8:30 holding one shoe and trying to tie the other one. Sadie was sitting at the counter reading a newspaper and her mom was pouring milk into a bowl of cereal.

"Here you go," she said, handing the bowl to Sadie.

"'A minimum of 2 feet of snow," Sadie read, "and gusts strong enough to flip a car.' Wow, sounds serious."

"Oh please, you too?" Jude asked, slipping on her second shoe.

"What? It's not a bad idea to take these warnings seriously," said Sadie, shoving a spoonful of cereal into her mouth. "Id shez here," she continued, in between crunching, "that we should have plenty of firewood, flashlights, batteries, blankets, and canned goods on hand in case the electricity goes out. Do we have that stuff, Mom?"

"Well, I think your father had put some wood in the garage last year to prepare for another storm, we probably have some still there. And we should have everything else around here," her mom said as she opened up a cupboard to reveal a few rows of canned goods.

"Good," said Sadie, closing the paper. "Besides, I have a double date tonight. I'm setting my friend Kristen up with Ryan's best friend, Drew. They'd be so cute together…" reflected Sadie, imagining the couple as an item.

"Speaking of plans tonight, Mom, don't forget that I have the Interpol concert with Jamie," said Jude, putting on her jacket.

"Right. Steven's coming over so it's probably best that you'll both be out of the house." Sadie and Jude looked at each other with disgust. "It's not like that, girls, you would be more than welcomed to join us if you were around."

"Uh, no thanks, Mom, I don't want to think about what you two will be doing in an empty house," said Jude as a loud honk came from the driveway, causing them all to jump a little.

"Jude, can you please tell Tommy again to avoid the honking? I don't want to upset the neighbors," asked her mom.

"I'll try, but that's basically the same thing as asking me not to drink coffee. Or Sadie not to date. All virtually impossible," said Jude with a smirk as Sadie lifted her head from the paper and glared at her sister. "See ya later," said Jude closing the door behind her.

Jude stepped outside and paused for a minute breathing in the brisk air and watching her scarf blow around in the wind. She took a deep breath and walked towards the car. She went to get into the Viper when she found her door was locked. She tried two or three times to open it before leaning down and looking in the window to find Tommy laughing.

"Not funny," she said through the glass. "It's cold out here!"

"It looks like you were enjoying it," Tommy said laughing at her. "I thought you might want to spend more time bonding with nature."

"Let me in! My ears are about to fall off!"

"I'd like to see that actually."

"Tommy!" Jude started to get annoyed. Tommy could tell she was getting serious, so he pushed the button to unlock her door. She quickly got in and slammed the door as fast as she could. Tommy was still laughing to himself, looking at her ears and nose, which were both red from the cold.

"What?" she asked putting her hands over her ears, which were starting to regain feeling. "You think my freezing ears are funny?"

"Yes, I do," said Tommy, shifting the car into reverse and pulling out of her driveway. "Not just your ears though, your nose looks like it might fall off too."

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Jude moved her hands to her nose, which was also lacking feeling. "Well if the door had been unlocked, I wouldn't look like Rudolph right now."

"No, but you would still look like Mickey Mouse," said Tommy jokingly.

"That's Minnie Mouse to you, Quincy," said Jude, feeling her nose and ears go back to their normal pale shade. They both laughed as they drove to the studio.

Ten minutes later, the blue Viper rolled into G-Major's parking lot. Jude and Tommy raced to get inside and away from the wind. They made it inside and went directly towards the smell of the brewing coffee in the kitchen. Approaching the coffee, Jude heard footsteps behind her.

* * *

That's it--hope you all enjoy:) 


	4. Chapter 4

I hate to leave you all hanging, your feedback is so great! Since we are heading towards Turkey Day, and towards the point that I need to write some more, please don't be upset with me if the posts aren't quite as frequent...but I promise I'll try my best.

I still really like the story, I'm hoping you all feel the same! So here's the next part, moving out of the transition and into the good stuff...

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with Instant Star, although I wish I did!_

* * *

As they approached the coffee, Jude heard footsteps behind her. 

"Tommy, Jude. We need to talk," said Georgia with arms crossed. They both turned to face her with coffee in hand. "What's up?" Jude asked nursing her mug.

"It's the album. It needs to be wrapped up within the next 3 weeks and as far as I can tell, there's still a lot of work to do."

"We're finishing Criminal today, Georgia. And then we'll move on from there," Tommy explained.

"Ok. But the rest needs to be done in time or else we may have serious issues with the next album, if there is one," Georgia said looking at Jude, whose eyes got wide at the thought of there not being another album. A three-year contract didn't necessarily mean three new albums.

"We'll get it done," she promised quietly.

"Good," Georgia said and turned to head back to her office.

Tommy and Jude looked at each other, both feeling very anxious. They immediately left to join Kwest in Studio B. They managed to complete Criminal and it sounded perfect--just the way they had envisioned it the night before. Georgia listened to the finished product and was thankfully impressed.

"Sounds great, guys. It's definitely a good reminder as to why I keep you both around," Georgia said with a smile. "I'm taking off. There's supposed to be a big storm brewing outside so you should all head home," she said as she left.

"Ahh yes, we've already gotten the forecast from our weatherman Kwest," said Tommy, pushing a few buttons to turn off the sound board.

"That's right—what did you say, Kwest? 2 feet of snow?" asked Jude grinning.

"And what was it, 'tornado-like winds?' recalled Tommy, joining Jude in laughing at Kwest.

"Laugh it up, both of you. But don't think I'm going to forget this moment when you're both stuck inside tomorrow," said Kwest, pointing a finger at them.

The three of them gathered their things and headed towards the exit. As they got closer to the door, Jude stopped at a nearby window and gasped at the sight outside: white.

Everything was totally covered and the wind was blowing fierce swirls of snow. Tommy heard Jude make a sound by the window and backtracked to join her. His jaw dropped at the sight outside. Kwest, who was a few paces ahead, stopped and noticed their shocked expressions. "What is it…" he started, walking towards them.

"Go ahead, say it," Tommy said quietly as Kwest got to the window.

"HA! See—I knew it! I want to hear you both say it: 'Kwest knows all.' Go ahead."

Tommy and Jude glanced at each other rolling their eyes.

"Kwest knows all," they both said simultaneously.

"All hail the chief weatherman of G-Major," added Jude.

"And the smartest musical engineer in the world," added Tommy with a smirk.

"Okay, no need to overdo it," Kwest responded with a wide grin. "And, to only add to my vast intelligence, I brought the Range Rover."

Suddenly, a look of panic took over Tommy. "The Viper!" he exclaimed as he pushed open both doors and ran into the snow.

He sprinted through the parking lot, shielding his face from the flying snow. Kwest and Jude followed him through the white and found a frantic Tommy trying to push the snow off the car.

"Hey, hold up, what exactly are you doing?"

"What does it look like? Digging out my car!" Tommy yelled, trying to clear off the windshield.

"Why do that when you can ride with me? Remember, four-wheel drive?" Kwest said, jingling his key chain.

"And leave the Viper!" Tommy shouted out in alarm.

"What choice do you have!" yelled Kwest in response.

Tommy looked sadly at his car that was now fully re-covered in snow.

"I vote Range Rover," piped in Jude through her scarf.

Tommy sighed and looked at Jude and Kwest. "Fine. But we're coming back first thing tomorrow to get it."

They followed Kwest towards his car and jumped in. He started the car and easily pulled out of the lot at G-Major. Snow was flying everywhere and he couldbarely make out the car in front of him as he got on the highway.

They drove very slowly and stopped suddenly every so often once Kwest was able to make out brake lights ahead. No one said anything and the music was off. They were concentrating on the task at hand and getting home safely.

Trailing along 20 minutes later, Jude noticed more brake lights ahead as the car slowed to a full stop. "Kwest, what's going on?"

"I can't tell. Looks like an accident maybe," he responded leaning from left to right trying to get a better view.

"How can you see anything, man? It's white and more white," said Tommy.

"Umm, guys? What are those people doing?" Jude pointed to a group of people walking through the snow towards them.

They watched all of the people, fighting the wind and snow, walking around and then past their car. Tommy, Jude, and Kwest stared, confused, as the crowd increased and kept walking past the Range Rover.

Kwest silently got out of the car and ran up to a man who was walking. Tommy and Jude watched the man pointing as Kwest jumped up and down to keep warm. About a minute later, Kwest ran back to the car and jumped in, slamming the door shut.

"Well?" asked Tommy once Kwest had made some shivering noises.

"Tree…down…middle of street…," muttered Kwest putting his hands up against the heater.

"There's a tree down?" squealed Jude from the back seat. "Where? Why can't we just turn around?"

"Whoa, calm, girl. There's a tree down in the middle of the street up there. And there's apparently a bad accident behind us blocking traffic from going the other way."

"So basically…we're _stuck_?" asked Jude in a panicked state.


	5. Chapter 5

Hope everybody had a very happy turkey day--I know I did! And now, I'm fully refreshed and regenerated to continue with our story. I'm hoping the sweet potatoes helped stimulate my creativity, so definitely let me know what you think! I love all of your feedback so far and don't worry if you were a little confused as to where we left off last time, I think you should be able to figure it out here...

So on to the next partof our saga...

As always, I do not own any part of Instant Star. I wish!

* * *

"So basically…we're _stuck_?" asked Jude in a panicked state.

"Sort of. See, everyone is walking to a gas station down the road. We could do that."

"And then what?" asked Tommy. "Stay at the gas station all night?"

"At least there are slushees," Jude thought aloud.

"I think you can go outside and make your own slushee, Harrison," responded Tommy with a grin.

"Can we get back to business here? If it's not going to be the gas station, where else would we go? We can't stay in the car." asked Kwest.

"Well, where are we exactly?" asked Jude.

"Still on Route 47. I think we're about a block away from Clearview Park."

"Clearview Park? That's not too far from my house--we can cut through the park!" shouted Jude.

"Whoa, girl. It's still pretty far even with a shortcut. And even if we were closer, have you looked outside? It's not like we can just walk so easily," said Tommy trying to think rationally.

"Well, I think it's a better choice than the gas station," Jude replied.

"I vote for Jude's," said Kwest towards Tommy. "Look, it's not going to be an easy hike but unless you feel like spending the night lying on the ground at a gas station with about ten dozen strangers, I say it's worth a shot."

Tommy sighed and looked outside. "Fine, but let's go before it gets worse."

Jude rewrapped her scarf and zipped up her coat. Kwest found a blanket in his back seat which he used as an extra layer. Tommy just had his regular jacket—no extra layers and no hat.

"Tommy, just take my scarf. I'll use my hood," Jude pleaded.

"A pink scarf with lace on the end? No thank you."

"Do you really think people can see what's covering your ears?" Kwest asked. "Have you even looked outside?"

"I don't care. It's bad enough I had to ditch the Viper, I am not wearing pink."

Once they were ready and had taken all of their stuff, they stepped foot into the whirling snow and brutal wind zipping down the street. People were still wandering towards the gas station but Jude, Tommy, and Kwest took off in the opposite direction towards Jude's house.

The snow was fierce at this point, blowing against each of them with such force that Jude had to keep her head down and her eyes on her feet as she walked. She could barely make out the images of people passing by her as she kept her eyes focused between Tommy's black shoe next to her and Kwest's gray sneaker which was a few paces ahead. A huge gust of wind blew and knocked them all off balance. As Jude stumbled, she felt Tommy on her right grab her arm to keep her upright. Not being able to speak, she peeked up at him and grinned under the scarf, which Tommy took to mean "thanks." They continued walking for at least an hour through the park following the trail that lead from one end to the other. At last, Jude could see her street through the trees and finally, her driveway.

They were completely covered with snow and ice and shivering as they approached her house. They headed up the driveway as Kwest ran ahead and pounded on her front door. As she and Tommy approached the door, she could see Sadie standing there with her arms crossed.

"Like I'm really going to let you in with those wet shoes."

"Sadie! We just walked for an hour through a blizzard and you're going to make us stop and take off our shoes before we're allowed to step foot inside my own house!" Jude yelled at her from underneath her scarf.

"They're not my rules, Jude."

"Well I think Mom would understand if we tracked a little bit of water on her floor to avoid freezing to death." Just then, Jude saw her mom walk from the kitchen up to the front door.

"Sadie, will you let them in! Look at them! Who cares about tracking water, they look like they're about 5 seconds away from hypothermia!" shouted her mother, pushing Sadie out of the doorway and letting the three of them inside. Jude shot Sadie a look as she passed in front of her thatsent Sadie walking away grumbling.

The three of them started to take off their layers, the jackets, the scarves, the blanket Kwest had used from his car, all of which was soaking wet from the snow and ice. Jude took her hood off to reveal a head full of red matted, disheveled hair.

"Hahaha…that's a good look for you, Red," said Kwest untying his sneaker.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Jude started to pat her hair down as she looked at the two guys next to her. Kwest's nose was running from the cold and he kept sniffling. He pulled off his sneakers to reveal a pool of water inside the shoes, which he opened the door to dump. Jude looked over at Tommy. His hair was a mess too, with the combination of snow and hair gel weighing it down to be completely flat. But it was his ears that made Jude laugh out loud.

"What's so funny?" he said, looking at her.

"Should've used the pink scarf, Quincy. That's all I'm gonna say."

Tommy brought his hands up to his ears, which hurt upon his touch. He turned to her with a grin and said sarcastically, "Ha ha, you're so funny. You know, if I had known that I would be in the presence of Pippi Longstocking today, I would've definitely brought my camera," grabbing her hair and holding it out into two messy pigtails.

She glared at him and went to hit him over the head as he ducked away from her. She continued to go after him as he ran away from her and further in to the living room. They both stopped and looked around as they realized that they were not alone.

Judegazed around the room in shock. Staring back at her were Jamie and Kat, standing in the corner, Sadie and another blonde girl, who Jude recognized as Kristen, seated on the couch, Ryan standing over the edge of the couch and a guy she didn't recognize sitting in the armchair by the fireplace. Looking further over towards the kitchen, she saw her mother's boyfriend Steven standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

Jude's mouth dropped open. "What…what are you all doing here?"

"What does it look like? We're all stuck here too," said Sadie as she turned her back to Jude to continue her conversation with Kristen.

* * *

Ugh, I hate Sadie! But she's unfortunately very necessary for this story...hope you all liked it! Definitely let me know what you think. Enjoy until next time:)


	6. Chapter 6

Okay, after 5 chapters of setting up this story and lots of amazing feedback, we've finally hit the point when the story starts to get really good. I apologize if it seemed to drag at all up to this point--like I've said, I'm not objective, so I can't tell what's good and what's unnecessary, which is why I love your reviews! I promise, from here on out, every chapter will have drama. Some willhave more than others, with a range of intensity, but the story only gets better the longer they're stuck.

So please continue to read and review, I love everything you've posted so far and it makes me so happy that you like it. So here we go again...brace yourselves for some upcoming excitement...

_Disclaimer: I do not own Instant Star, but I do own Jude's house during this blizzard!

* * *

_

"So, how did you all get here?" Tommy asked staring around the room. 

Sadie turned towards them. "I had a double date scheduled for tonight and we were all supposed to meet here. Kristen got ready with me and Ryan and Drew, who is Ryan's friend over there, drove here to meet us."

Jude's mom continued. "Jamie was here to go to the concert with you, Jude."

Kat spoke as she and Jamie approached Jude. "I was hanging out with Jamie until you got home. My parents couldn't get the car out of the driveway, so here I am."

"Guess no Interpol," said Jude disappointedly.

"Not likely," agreed Jamie.

"And Steven was here for dinner," continued Jude's mom. "Quite the full house."

"Yeah, just a little," muttered Jude staring around again. "And we're all…stuck? Like, for good?"

"I think so," her mother responded, following Jude's eyes around the room. "Unless the snow stops soon, which seems unlikely."

"Mrs. Harrison, the weather report said that the snow isn't supposed to let up for at least another day or two at the earliest," chimed in Kwest.

"Well then, I guess we're all here for good," said Jude's mom. They all stood quietly for a minute looking uneasy at the thought of the days ahead. All of them? Under one roof?

Mrs. Harrison cleared her throat. "Tom, Kwest, why don't you come with me? Jude's father left some clothing here when he…well, you know…let's see if there's something you could borrow," she said as she walked towards the stairs with Tommy and Kwest following.

Jude was anxiously still surveying the crowd.

Kat, noticing Jude's nerves, soothingly asked, "Jude, your mom made hot chocolate. Want some?"

"Sure," Jude said with a small smile.

They walked into the kitchen andgot hot chocolate. As they all sat down at the table, Ryan's friend Drew walked in.

"Mind if I join you guys? Sadie and Ryan are arguing about some physics exam and Kristen is taking Sadie's side. I choose to take myself out of it," he explained.

"Good idea. Once Sadie starts an argument, your best option is to exit immediately," Jude replied as Drew came over and sat down next to her.

Suddenly, Kwest came running through the kitchen door and sliding over to the stove, holdingclothes in his hands and a few pairs of socks under his arm. "I smelled hot chocolate," he said, helping himself to a cup.

"That's some storm outside…" Jamie said gazing out the window.

"It's supposed to be the biggest one to hit this area since 1942," Kwest responded. "You see, the wind patterns from the Southern hemisphere…"

As Kwest explained the wind patterns to Jamie and Kat, Drew and Jude started talking. After brief introductions, Drew asked Jude about her music and admitted to being a fan.

"I'm actually in a band too," he said.

"Really? What kind of music do you play?"

"Kind of eclectic, but mostly covers. I play bass."

"Bass? I love the bass. I tried to play it once but it sounded like a dying cat," responded Jude with a laugh. Drew laughed too watching her eyes light up.

"That couldn't have been half as bad as my singing. Dead cat would be an understatement," he responded smiling.

They continued to compare performance memories when Tommy walked in holding his clothing stash. He stood behind the counter contemplating which conversation to join and was immediately drawn to Jude and Drew. He watched Jude leaning in to Drew and Drew lightly touching her arm. Something bothered Tommy about their sudden interest in each other. Who was this kid and why was he hanging all over Jude?

He decided to break up their conversation.

"What's so funny?" he asked approaching them.

Jude glanced up at him. "Oh, nothing, just comparing embarrassing stories." They hushed as he sat down.

"Don't I get to hear it too?"

"Well …I told Drew about that time when I knocked the microphone stand off the stage in Cincinnati and nearly gave some kids concussions and then Drew was telling me abouthow he blew out a speaker during one of his shows and it started smoking…" Jude concluded giggling. Tommy just sat there waiting for the punch line. "Guess it wasn't as funny when I told it, but I promise, Quincy, it was funny."

"Sure it was. So you're a musician too?" he asked Drew, who was staring at Jude.

"Yeah, I play bass in a friend's band. Just a local gig, nothing serious."

"Oh stop, I'm sure you're being modest. I bet you're great," replied Jude smiling at him.

It was at this point that Tommy's bother turned into a combination of nausea and anger.

"Jude…can I talk to you for a minute?" Jude nodded and stood up, following Tommy into the dining room.

"What are you doing?" he asked vehemently.

"What are you talking about?" she responded, confused.

"You know…what are you doing…with him?"

"We're just talking."

"Really? Cause it looked like you were on your way to more than that."

Jude's eyes narrowed. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"It's just…you don't know him and maybe it's not a good idea to act too friendly."

"Friendly? In case you haven't noticed, we are now stuck in this house until god knows how long and you're telling me that I shouldn't act too _friendly_ towards someone who's stuck here with us? If we're not friendly, this may be the worst few days of our lives!" Jude cried, flailing her arms around to emphasize her point. She quieted down and added, "Besides, why do you care? I'm not of your concern."

Tommy looked at her and took a deep breath. "First, you are of my concern. Everyone is. We're all stuck here and this is not the biggest house in the world. Whatever choices you make, the rest of us will have to deal with the consequences." Jude looked down knowing he was right."And second, I'm just looking out for you. I don't want to see you upset over the next few days."

Jude looked at him crossly. "Why do you assume I'm going to wind up being upset?"

"I don't, I'm just—"

"You know, save it. I don't want to hear it. If you have a problem seeing me become _friendly_ with someone, then just don't come near me," Jude said, walking away.

"Wait, Jude! Hold on—"

Tommy grabbed her arm but was interrupted as the whole house suddenly went dark. They heard the heat stop rushing through the vents as they stood silently in the pitch black.

"The power's out!" Sadie yelled from the living room.

"Thanks a lot, genius!" Jude yelled back not moving an inch. It was dark outside so she couldn't see anything and only felt Tommy's hand still holding her arm.

"Oh no…" she heard her mom's voice. "The power's out all over. It's a total blackout."

* * *

There it is--the start to the juicy part of the story! Let me know what you think and I'll try to post again later in the week. Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

Hi, again. Okay, I have some good news and bad news. The good news is that I got super inspired this week and stayed up far too late writing the next few chapters. I still have a lot left and what I wrote needs tweaking, but I can honestly say that I am sooo excited about the coming story! I'm giddy just thinking about it.

But the bad news is that I'm going to be away for the weekend and expect to be swamped in the upcoming weeks before the holidays (I'm kind of old and work, so this time of year is crazy). However, I'm thinking this may not be too bad--now that the return of Instant Star isn't coming until _(sniffles)_ February, I'm hoping to make this story last as long as possible.

That said, here's the next part.I truly appreciate the feedback so much! Your reviews keep me motivated! I'm nixing the whole disclaimer thing from here on out. We'll say it applies to all chapters. Thanks and enjoy!

* * *

Jude just stood there with Tommy holding her arm as they heard footsteps in the kitchen. 

"Ouch!" Kwest yelled.

"Sorry!" Jamie responded. "I was trying to find a flashlight."

"On the shelf above the microwave," Jude shouted. After some rustling, he responded, "Thanks, got it!"

She saw the light flicker in the distance and could see where she was. She turned back towards Tommy. Despite wanting to hate him, she sighed and opted to let her frustration go for now.

"We should go," she said, looking up at him and opening her hand for him to take. He hesitated for a moment and then shifted his hand from her arm to her hand. She turned back and they slowly headed towards the light.

They arrived in the kitchen and realized that everyone else was also there. They were all standing around Jamie who was holding the flashlight.

"Anyone care for a ghost story?" Jamie asked with an awkward chuckle.

Mrs. Harrison stepped forward and grabbed the flashlight.

"No one panic. We will all be fine. There's plenty of food and water," she said checking the sink.

"What about the heat?" Sadie asked, grabbing some candles and extra flashlights off the shelf.

"Well, we'll have no real heat until the electricity is back, but we do have firewood in the garage."

"I can get the firewood," Tommy spoke up. Jude realized that they were still holding hands as she turned towards him.

"Sorry," she mumbled letting go.

"It's okay," he said looking back at her with a warm smile. She felt her stomach churn looking at his blue eyes in the dim light but cursed herself immediately to get rid of the feeling.

He left for the garage along with Kwest and Ryan. The rest of them grabbed blankets, sleeping bags, and pillows from the closet. After all of the supplies were gathered, they filed into the kitchen, where Jude's mom was serving lasagna.

"Now, it might be a little cold since the oven stopped working," she said serving pieces.

Jude sat down next to Drew, continuing their earlier discussion while conversations carried on around them.

"I was supposed to go to the Interpol concert tonight," Jude said.

"Interpol? No way, I love them," Drew said looking at her.

"Really? That's so cool. Jamie and I were supposed to go together," she said glancing towards Jamie who was helping Kat cut her lasagna.

"So you and Jamie…you're…friends?" Drew asked, attempting to be casual.

"Yeah, we're friends. Best friends. I've known him my whole life," she said smiling.

"And your producer over there…" Drew said looking towards Tommy who quickly looked down upon seeing Drew glance in his direction.

"Tommy?"

"Yeah, him. You two are…just friends too?"

"Yeah, sort of. It's complicated," Jude said thinking about her range of emotions for Tommy. She realized Drew was watching her so she quickly added, "But yeah, we're basically friends. When we're not being enemies."

"Got it," he said taking a few more bites. "So then, you're…single?"

Jude blushed at his question. "Umm, yeah, single as they come," she responded shoving the remaining lasagna into her mouth to avoid having to say more.

After dinner, Jude's mom came into the living room and strictly divided their sleeping arrangements in half--boys in the dining room and the girls in the living room.

"No mixing," she instructed, eyeing Sadie, who glanced at Ryan with disappointment.

Jude and Kat claimed sleeping bags as Steven started to lay out a few pieces of wood to light a fire. They could already feel the chill cover the house since the heat went out. She and Kat took a candle upstairs to get ready for bed, even though it was only 8:30. A few minutes later, Jude settled into her sleeping bag with her black notebook. She had barely written a word as Drew sat down next to her.

"Sleep so soon?" he asked.

"Nah, just writing. I'm hoping to have a new song by the time we get out of here."

Jude felt his gaze so she looked up.

"Do you…want to take a walk?" he asked.

"To where? The front hallway?" Jude asked sarcastically.

"I was thinking we could watch the snow," he timidly replied.

Jude smiled at the idea and got up to follow him.

On her way, she caught Tommy's eye, who was laying out blankets. He gave her a disapproving look as she refocused her eyes ahead. No matter how her stomach felt around him, she didn't want him to be right about Drew.

They headed into the laundry room and stepped towards the window. There were no lights outside but the moonlight shone onto the falling snow.

"It's beautiful," Jude said quietly.

"Isn't it?" he asked, referring to Jude and not the snow.

She turned towards him and noticed how green his eyes were. She became transfixed as he stared back at her. He slowly moved closer to her and closed his eyes…she then followed his actions, leaning into him and closing her eyes. She could feel her heart beating faster as their lips drew closer.

Out of nowhere, her mind shouted the phrase:

_Whatever choices you make, the rest of us will have to deal with the consequences._

Damn him! Why was his voice there?

Her eyes fluttered open as she lightly pressed her fingers up to his mouth.

"Wait," she said.

He opened his eyes, flustered, and backed away from her.

"Sorry…"

"It's okay," she said reassuringly. "It's just…we just met. Can we take things slow?"

"Oh, sure. No problem. We'll take all the time you need," he said, draping his arm over her shoulder.

After saying their goodnights, Jude went back to her sleeping bag.

"And where were you?" Kat asked inquisitively.

"Ohh..around…" Jude responded with a smile.

"I saw Tommy slamming his blankets down so you must've been with someone else," Kat said with a smirk.

"He's just being overly protective again," Jude said. "I was with Drew. He's great, Kat. You would really like him. He's a cool, sweet guy."

"So, you like him?"

Jude thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think so."

"That's a good thing, right?"

"Yeah, I guess…" said Jude softly. "I just don't know him that well, I need time to decide."

"Well," Kat said as Jude got under her covers, "Lucky for you, you'll be stuck with him for the next few days, which should definitely help you know for sure."

Jude thought about what Kat had said and listened to the fire crackle next to her as she drifted off to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Hi--nothing new to report, just wanted to thank you again for all of your feedback! I'm really happy you like it so far and I'm hoping you like this next addition. I think you might--it's more Tommy and Jude fun. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

* * *

Jude awoke with a startle, confused at her surroundings. She heard Kristen snoring and looked at Kat sleeping next to her. Her mind grew clearer as she saw the snow rapidly falling outside the window. She stretched and got up, heading upstairs. After a quick shower and change, she went back down to see everyone else awake. 

"Good morning," her mom said, as Jude entered the kitchen.

"Morning. Coffee?" Jude asked looking around.

"Here--I mixed boiling water with coffee grinds, I'm not sure how it turned out," she said, handing Jude a cup of something murky.

Jude just looked at it as Jamie came over.

"Morning. I barely remember seeing you last night—where were you?" he asked.

Jude flashed back to the night before and Drew. "Oh, nowhere really. I was tired, so I passed out pretty early."

"Ah, the blizzard effect. It knocked us all out early. Mental note--Ask Kwest," Jamie said watching Jude sip the coffee and make a face. "That bad?"

Jude nodded and said, "Worse than the cake we made for Kat's birthday," to which Jamie reenacted his vomiting.

"So, what's on the agenda today?" she asked him as they walked towards Kat who was seated on the couch. As they sat down, Jude caught Drew's eye and gave him a small smile, which he returned and continued talking to Sadie and Kristen.

"What am I, your entertainment director?" he responded, not noticing her gesture to Drew.

"Someone has to be," she responded with a smirk. Just then, Tommy came around the couch.

"You're replacing me?" he asked feigning hurt.

She smiled. He always knew what to say to make her forget why she had been annoyed with him.

"No, I need you both. I require a lot of entertaining."

"Don't you have a song to work on?" Jamie suggested.

"Yeah, but I'm not feeling inspired…"

They all thought for a moment.

"How about cards? We can all play Go Fish," Kat volunteered.

"Or games? Don't you have any board games?" Tommy asked as Jude's eyes widened at the idea.

"Games! That's great! We have a whole stash in the basement. Monopoly, Connect Four, Scrabble..." Jude recounted as she stood up walking towards the basement door. She stopped and looked behind her.

"Isn't one of you coming with me? I can't carry them all by myself."

"You have that many?" Tommy asked with a snicker.

"Well," she said walking back towards him, "it's dark down there so I'll need one hand for the flashlight and two hands to hold the boxes of games," she said, then leaned down and whispered to him, "That equals 3, in case you were having some trouble." He felt himself tense at her breath in his ear but rolled his eyes as she stood back up so she wouldn't notice. She then said at full volume, "Three hands, which equates to two people. So who's with me?"

They all sat looking at each other.

"Jamie?"

"Not me, basements and my allergies don't mix," Jamie said quickly.

"Kat?" she asked.

"Umm…Jude, don't you remember the last time you and I ventured into the basement together?"

Jude flashed back to years ago and watching Kat run upstairs after seeing a mouse, which was actually a prank Jude had played on Sadie earlier but had forgotten to put away.

"Well, then I guess that just leaves you as the chosen one," she said looking at Tommy.

"I, uh…I…"

"Oh, cut it. I know you don't have an excuse. Come on," she said grabbing a flashlight and heading towards the basement.

He reluctantly got up and followed her. She slowly walked down the stairs, holding the flashlight in front of her. Getting to the bottom, Tommy said, "So—good night last night?"

Jude stopped walking and turned towards him, shining the flashlight directly into his eyes.

"Now, why would you ask that? We were actually getting along and you had to go and ruin it."

He put his hand up to block the light exclaiming, "Sorry, I take it back!" She grumbled and turned back around, continuing walking.

As they approached the closet, he quietly added, "Sure looked like your boyfriend Drew had a good night."

"Quincy! Enough!"

"Okay--sorry," he said chuckling at her freak out. "Just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine, thank you. I had a fine night," she said, pushing the flashlight into his chest to take. "Oww…" he muttered.

"_That's_ for being nosy," she said, opening the closet door. They stepped inside the large closet as Jude grabbed a step stool.

"It's not nosy, it's concern," he said, watching her slide the step stool over to the shelves.

"Well thank you for your concern, but again, none is necessary. Especially in this situation."

"Why in this situation?"

"Because—there's nothing going on with me and Drew so there's no need for concern," Jude said questioning her answer as it left her mouth. She did like Drew but technically, there was nothing going on…not yet, at least. "Now, can we drop it?"

He nodded as she climbed the step stool. "Consider it dropped."

She found the stash of games on the top shelf. She grabbed a few and stacked them in her arms. She saw one box further over but couldn't tell what it was.

"Hey, can you shine the flashlight over here? I can't see if I want that game." He obeyed and moved over, revealing Battleship.

"Ooo..Battleship, gotta grab that one," she said reaching on her toes.

Suddenly, she felt herself lose balance. She went to step back on the stool but her shoe skidded on the edge and she tumbled forward. She tried to grab the shelf for support but missed it as the boxes all hit the floor. She let out a small cry and closed her eyes, expecting to hit the ground.

Out of nowhere, she felt Tommy's arms around her waist. She caught her breath and opened her eyes, startled at how close they were. Their faces were inches apart as he held her tightly. The flashlight rolled towards the entrance of the closet as they stared at each other speechless. She gazed into his eyes and felt her stomach churn in knots. He felt her arms around his neck as he took in the lavender scent from her hair. He couldn't remember what they were doing or how they got so close. They were magnetic, as they slowly started to lean in closer when a bright light hit them, causing them instantly to flinch and pull away.

"Whoops…sorry, didn't mean to intrude," Sadie's voice came from outside the closet.


	9. Chapter 9

Here's our next part...hope you all enjoy!

* * *

"Whoops…sorry, didn't mean to intrude," Sadie's voice came from outside the closet.

Snapping back into reality, Tommy gently put Jude down and stepped away, looking flustered. Jude backed away, smoothing her clothes and staring towards the light to decipher the image.

"Sadie," Jude said quietly. "We were just…it wasn't what you think…"

"Right. I heard a crash and wanted to make sure everything was okay," she said, placing the flashlight back on the ground, adding, "Looks like it was more than okay…" She turned and walked upstairs silently.

Jude and Tommy just stood there, not knowing what to say.

"Jude…," he started quietly.

"I know, please don't say it," she pleaded, not wanting to hear about how it was a mistake. He opened his mouth to disagree with her but stopped himself. She felt a lump in her throat as he just nodded in understanding. She knew not to get her hopes up when it came to him but was disappointed regardless.

_Don't get upset. He doesn't feel that way about you._

"I guess we should pick up this stuff," he said looking down. Jude looked and saw a mish-mash of Scrabble tiles, checker pieces, and Monopoly money scattered all over the floor.

"Yeah, guess those were the real casualty," she said, crouching down and picking up a handful of pieces.

After the basement was cleaned, they silently grabbed the boxes and flashlight and headed upstairs, acting as though nothing had happened. Everyone immediately fought over the games, excited about the activity options. Kwest and Tommy grabbed Battleship and started playing.

"You almost what?" Kwest asked with surprise.

"Would you keep your voice down?" Tommy muttered. "We sort of…almost…kissed. Almost, not actually did."

"Close enough. So who walked in with the flashlight?"

"Sadie," Tommy mumbled, moving one of his pieces on the board.

"Are you kidding? Your ex-girlfriend walks in on you _almost_ kissing her sister."

"Okay, enough. It doesn't matter since it didn't happen."

"But it could've."

"But it didn't."

"But it could've. And you would've been into it."

"Says who?"

"Says anyone who's ever been within 20 feet of the two of you," Kwest responded with a grin.

Tommy glared at Kwest and continued playing, trying to disregard Kwest's words. "I sunk your battleship," Tommy declared, to which Kwest groaned and threw his pieces on the ground.

Meanwhile, Jude, Kat, and Jamie were involved in a heated game of Scrabble.

"Earth to Jude! It's your turn," said Jamie, snapping his fingers in front of her glazed face.

"Oh, sorry." She looked down at the board. After a moment, she put down her letters.

K-I-S-S

"That's your word?" Jamie said irritably.

"Yeah. The "K" is a double letter, so it's not so bad."

"Um, Jude, let's review your last few words," Kat spoke calmly. "'Heart,' 'adore,' 'tears,' and now, 'kiss.' Do you sense a pattern?"

"Yeah, they're all made up of letters I got stuck with," Jude responded.

"Jude—what's going on? I know you're coffee-free but this is beyond caffeine," Kat asked.

Jude shifted uncomfortably. "It's nothing. Just thinking."

"About Drew?" Kat asked.

"Drew? Why about Drew?" Jamie asked abruptly.

Jude ignored Jamie and answered Kat. "No, not Drew…the other one…"

"The other one?" Kat asked perplexed. She thought for a moment and then raised her eyebrows, getting the hint. "Ohh..him! Why?"

"Well, we sorta had an incident in the, ummm, mouse-infested region," Jude implied, trying to avoid Jamie's questions.

"What kind of incident?"

"HELLO? Do you people not see me? I'm sitting right here!" Jamie exclaimed.

Kat leaned over and whispered "Tommy" as his eyes bulged.

"AGAIN? Jude, you know how this always ends…"

Jude irritably looked at him. "I know, Jamie. It was nothing. We just…had a moment."

"Another moment to add to the list," Kat said. "Maybe one of these days these moments may actually become something."

"Always gotta see the glass half full, don't you?" said Jamie, annoyed with Kat's point of view.

Jude smiled, as the conversation subsided and the game continued. Everyone only put their games on hold briefly for peanut butter sandwiches and then played throughout the afternoon. It was a good distraction from being stuck inside, although Jude was in her own world, trying to avoid ending up in the same game as Drew so she could think on her own.

As it started to get dark, Steven handed out mugs of hot chocolate. Sipping her drink, Sadie, bored from her Connect Four re-match with Kristen, had an idea to revive the afternoon. She gathered everyone around, except Tommy and Ryan who were helping Steven gather wood, and announced a new game: Truth or Dare. Jude hesitated at the suggestion, especially coming from Sadie, but followed Kat and Jamie into the circle regardless. Sadie reviewed the rules and then started the game.

The game was going well and Jude was having fun getting to know everyone. Kristen gave Jude her dare, which was to do her best Eden impression. They were all cracking up at Jude squealing an Eden song along with outrageous dance moves as Tommy and Ryan entered.

"What game are you playing now?" Ryan asked, joining the circle.

"Truth or Dare," replied Sadie.

"Truth or Dare? Isn't that a little immature for you, Sadie?" Tommy smirked.

"No way, it's a classic," Sadie replied turning back to the game. "Okay, Jude it's your turn."

Jude looked around the circle. "Kwest--truth or dare?"

"Hmmm…DARE," Kwest responded eagerly.

"Okay…Do you see my mom making soup in the kitchen? I dare you to go up to her in just your underwear and ask if she has any hot chocolate left."

The whole circle burst out laughing as Kwest smiled and nodded. "Okay, no problem."

Kwest stood up and hid behind the couch taking off his layers. Once he was done, he ran off, in his Scooby Doo boxers, towards the kitchen. They all cracked up watching him go and then heard his muffled conversation. Two minutes later, he came prancing back into the living room in his boxers proudly holding a mug of hot chocolate.

"And there you have it," he said, as they all applauded.

They all continued to laugh as Kwest put his layers back on and sat down, choosing Sadie for the next round.

"Truth," she said.

Kwest thought and asked, "When was your best kiss?"

Sadie blushed and turned towards Ryan. "Ryan—our first kiss in the park," she said giving him a quick kiss. Tommy shot Kwest a disgusted glance.

Sadie turned back to the circle and continued, "My turn, and I choose--Tommy. Truth or dare?" she asked with a glimmer in her eye. He looked at her and knew that she wanted him to say truth, so instead, he quietly mumbled, "Dare."

"Dare, huh? Okay…" Sadie thought. She looked around the circle and smiled at her own mischievous idea. "Okay, I dare you to kiss Jude."

"WHAT!" Jude and Tommy yelled simultaneously.


	10. Chapter 10

So I was going to wait until tomorrow to post this chapter, but since this next part is my personal favorite and since you all posted such amazing comments for the last one, I couldn't resist getting this one out quickly. Reading this chapter makes me giddy, so I'm hoping you'll all feel the same! Thanks again for your amazing feedback and I hope to not disappoint! Let me know what you think and as always...enjoy :)

* * *

"You heard me. Kiss Jude, that's your dare," Sadie instructed. Tommy was speechless, he couldn't even object. She continued, seeing his stunned expression. "Or else, you can always pick truth, but somehow, I think you'd prefer the dare," she said looking intensely at him. 

Jude looked around the circle in panic. This was not happening. Not in front of all these people. Drew—she glanced at him and met his eyes. He was clearly shocked by the dazed look on his face. She then looked towards Kat and Jamie for support. Jamie looked angry and Kat just shrugged and gave Jude a hopeful glance.

Jamie questioned forcefully, "Why did Jude get roped in to Tommy's dare? Kwest had to do his dare on his own. Why doesn't Tommy?"

"Because you have to do whatever the dare is, it doesn't matter if it's alone or involving someone else. It's not a big deal, it's just a kiss. So go ahead, it has to be 10 seconds. We'll count," she said, nudging Ryan to start looking at his watch.

"Sadie, I really don't think…" Tommy started, feeling his anxiety increase as he realized she was serious.

"It doesn't matter what you think Tommy, this is the dare," Sadie said shortly. "You and Jude are friends, right? So this shouldn't be uncomfortable—it's not as if you like her or anything, so there aren't any real feelings involved," she added with a faint smile. "It's just a quick kiss."

Jude looked angrily at Sadie relishing in her own underhanded idea and wished at this moment, more than any other, that she could knock her teeth out. She hated her more than she did when she made a scene falling into the pool at Darius' party. More than when she walked in on her kissing Tommy at their ranch. Even more than when she found out she was dating Tommy. Jude knew this was all a ploy to humiliate her so Sadie could get more of the attention. She desperately didn't want Sadie to succeed--she knew if she could just kiss him without emotion, Sadie's plan would never work. But how could she kiss him and not care?

Tommy looked uncomfortably at Jude, who was glaring at Sadie. He couldn't understand what Sadie was trying to accomplish by setting this up. Was she trying to get back at him? Was she angry about the scene she witnessed in the basement earlier? Whatever it was, he couldn't keep fighting her decision—that's exactly what she wanted him to do—and he wouldn't let her win.

Jude took a few deep breaths. She closed her eyes and told herself that it was just like kissing her Uncle Roger, or Cousin Paul, or even Jamie.

_Not a big deal, not a big deal._

"Fine," she said softly.

Tommy was unnerved too as he ran his fingers through his hair trying to calm down.

_Not a big deal, not a big deal._

He slowly approached Jude in the middle of the circle. All eyes were focused on the two of them as she sat up on her knees.

"Okay, let's just get this over with, Quincy," she said, trying to move things along and break the tension.

He looked into her eyes and saw her fear but knew they were in too deep to back out. He slowly started coming towards her as everyone continued to watch silently. She could hear her heart beating a mile a minute, threatening to jump out of her body. As he got closer, she closed her eyes reminding herself that it wasn't a big deal. But the instant she felt his lips touch hers, her panic vanished and the butterflies in her stomach took over.

He tried to maintain control over the situation, bringing his lips lightly to hers at first, but as their lips locked for a second, he suddenly felt a rush of emotion and energy sweep over him, causing him to feel like he just wanted to be closer to her. He started to intensify the kiss, making it deeper and pressing his lips against hers, completely forgetting their surroundings. His hands, which had been at his sides, worked their way up to the sides of her face, feeling how soft and cool her skin was. She moved her hands to grip the sides of his sweatshirt to keep her balance. She allowed herself to lose all sense of reality and control as she felt the softness of his lips along with the roughness of his unshaven chin against her face. She inhaled the smell of hot chocolate on his breath, finding it intoxicating and addicting. They both let themselves completely go, falling deeper into what seemed to be more like a dream than a game.

The rest of the group sat there in awe, completely astonished at the sight before them. It was like a train wreck—they all knew they shouldn't have been there, they shouldn't have been watching them, but they couldn't take their eyes off the scene that unfolded. Jamie looked like he was going to be sick at any moment; Drew's eyes grew wider as he couldn't stop watching Jude, while Kwest had a huge grin on his face, finally seeing his friends together. After at least a minute had passed, Sadie nudged Ryan again who was in a trance watching them. He looked at her and then looked back at them, shouting, "Ten! Ten!"

Off in another world, Jude heard the word "ten" yelling in her ear and suddenly felt herself falling back into reality, recognizing the word's significance. She quickly pulled away, let go of him, and fell back on the ground behind her, taking a deep breath to refill her lungs. She slowly opened her eyes, staring at Tommy who was staring back at her. Both of their lips were slightly puffy and they looked disheveled but she couldn't take her eyes off of him. What had just happened?

He slowly backed up into his spot outside the circle, as everyone sat gaping at them in silence. He took a deep breath to calm down and quietly said, "Game over," as he rose and walked straight into the bathroom and slammed the door.


	11. Chapter 11

Hi, y'all. I can't tell you how happy I am that you liked the last chapter--it was one of my favorites and all of your posts were so amazing! You guys totally rock and really make me want to write the best story I can for you. So keep on posting!

Quick note: I've unofficially entitled the next few chapters. This one is "Sadie Speaks, Part I" and starts to give a glimpse at the method behind her madness. I'd like to think that deep down, Sadie is a good person and really cares about Jude and what happens to her. Her true intentions remain to be seen in the show, but I'm going with this whole perspective for the purpose of this story. Let's just hope it's true once the show comes back!

And now it's time to revisit our crazy group once more, post-Truth or Dare...

* * *

After Tommy left, Jamie and Kat dragged Jude to the laundry room to escape the gawking from the group.

"WHAT was that?" Jamie yelled.

"Calm down! You're not helping," Kat snapped back. "Jude, are you okay?"

Jude stood there in a daze staring at her friends. "Uhhh…yeah…"

Kat and Jamie looked at each other with concern. Jamie tried again.

"Jude…talk to us. We know you and you're _not_ okay."

"I…I'm…" she started. "What just happened?" she asked, echoing the question on everyone's minds.

"Well, you and Tommy just about set the whole house on fire," Kat responded, to which Jude walked towards the window, trying to assemble the jumbled memory. She could still feel the warmth of his touch on her skin and the softness of his lips, and inadvertently smiled.

Kat walked over to her and put her hand on Jude's shoulder to bring her back to reality. Jude turned towards Kat to speak as they suddenly heard her mom yell, "Dinner!"

Jude sighed and they reluctantly headed into the kitchen. Upon entering, Jude felt as though she had the plague—everyone stood staring at her without a sound. Just then, Tommy entered and all eyes darted towards him. He ignored everyone and sat down at the far end of the table, with everyone else filling in. Dinner was beyond uncomfortable. Jude ate hastily, avoiding eye contact with everyone, especially Drew who was watching her. Her mom tried to spark conversation, recognizing the tension in the room though not knowing why, but quickly gave up. So they all sat there eating in complete silence.

As dinner concluded, Sadie approached Tommy and whispered something in his ear. He looked irritated but rose from his seat and followed her upstairs. Minutes later, as everyone dispersed around the living room, they heard shouting coming from upstairs. Curiosity getting the better of her, Jude took a candle and crept up the stairs. She stood in the doorway of the bathroom outside Sadie's room, where she and Tommy were arguing.

"Just admit it already!"

"There's nothing to admit, Sadie! You're being delusional!"

"I'm not delusional, Tom, and you know it!"

"This is ridiculous. We broke up months ago, why are you rehashing everything?"

"I need closure. I need to hear why we really broke up! What happened downstairs is proof of everything I've thought all along!"

"Proof? That's what you call your little stunt? I have news for you, Sadie, there's nothing to prove! There is _nothing_ between me and Jude! That kiss meant nothing!"

Jude couldn't take it anymore. She had felt the fire rising in her but Tommy's words put her over the edge. She angrily stepped out of the bathroom and into the opening of Sadie's room.

"Nothing? Wow, it's good to know how you really feel, Tom," she said gripping the candle so her anger emanated through the flames. Sadie and Tommy were stunned at her entrance.

"Jude…how did you…" he started.

"It's kind of hard to ignore you two yelling since everyone else is virtually silent," she responded, putting her candle down and crossing her arms tightly. "Please, continue," she urged, looking into his eyes with fury.

"I…I was just…" he mumbled, not sure what to say next.

"You were what? Let me remind you where you left off. You said, and I quote, 'That kiss meant nothing,'" Jude retorted. "Let me guess…your next statement was going to be about forgetting it ever happened, right? Because you seem to be really good at sweeping things under the rug."

Tommy was speechless. He looked tense as he walked towards the window.

"Jude, I don't know what to say…"

Sadie cut in, "News flash, Tom—you can't say it never happened. There are 7 witnesses who would _definitely_ disagree."

He glared at Sadie and then looked back to Jude. "I wasn't going to say that, but I—I don't know how I feel about that kiss."

"Oh good, well, I'm glad we cleared that up," Jude sneered, sitting next to Sadie on the bed.

Tommy started to get frustrated. "Look—whether or not that kiss meant anything isn't even relevant now. Sadie brought me up here to throw her theories at me as to why we broke up months ago—"

"Theories I think Jude should know," Sadie added quickly.

Tommy sighed. "Her _theories_, are just that, theories. Be my guest, Sadie and tell her--but Jude, you're hearing this from an angry, bitter ex-girlfriend. Not exactly the most reliable source. I refuse to stick around and listen to it again."

At this, he turned to leave. He stopped on his way out and looked at Jude, who still appeared angry but he could tell she was hurt that he had completely avoided the topic of the kiss. He crouched down next to her and said quietly, "We'll talk later, okay?" She nodded and watched him stand up and leave the room.

Jude turned towards Sadie with a confused expression. "What's going on, Sadie?"

There were a few candles lit around the room but Jude could see Sadie was visibly distraught. She had never seen her like this—so unhinged, so vulnerable.

"Jude, you need to know the truth, once and for all."

Jude adjusted to get comfortable. She knew what was coming required her full attention.

"And they're not just theories, I promise. I'm going to start from the beginning," Sadie said, to which Jude nodded giving her the okay to begin.

"When Tommy and I first started going out, things were great. We were happy together and he seemed to really like me. After a couple of weeks, we were in Europe, and things started to change. He changed. He became this distant, isolated guy, totally unlike the Tommy I knew. I tried to talk to him, get him to come shopping or clubbing with me, but nothing. I thought I had done something to upset him, but every time I asked, he brushed it off and said not to worry. When we got back home, things only got worse. You got home too and I basically never saw him. We were still technically together but he wasn't there with me, physically or emotionally. He blamed it on the hours and stress at the studio, but I kept feeling like there was more." Sadie paused, took a deep breath and continued.

"Then one night, I went to meet him at the studio to go to dinner. When I got there, I looked around and found him in one of the studios with you. Instead of going in, I stood outside the door and watched the two of you together. He was teasing you about something and you were both laughing. He looked so alive…so happy. An emotion I hadn't seen in months. I could just tell, in the way that he looked at you, in the way that you looked at each other, there was this warmth there that I never had with him. And that's when it hit me…," she said, feeling tears surface. "It wasn't me he wanted, it was you. It was you all along, I was just the consolation prize." She paused and looked Jude in the eyes, adding, "He's in love with you, Jude."


	12. Chapter 12

Howdy. So here's the next chapter, unofficially titled "Sadie Speaks, Part II." There are only 2 chapters with Sadie speaking, so no worries, we're moving right along...:-)

Thanks again for all of your support and amazing reviews! This is my first fanfic so I truly appreicate all of your feedback. Hope you enjoy this next part!

* * *

Jude lost her breath at the sound of those words. Her hands were shaking and she could hear her heart pounding. She felt like she had misheard, like it wasn't real. "What?" was all she could muster, staring back at Sadie. 

"He's in love with you. He may not admit it, not to you or to himself, but he definitely is," Sadie said, as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I…I don't…we're just friends…" Jude contested.

"Wait, there's more. After I had this realization, I confronted him. I went to his place and told him exactly what I thought was going on and why he had been pulling away," she sniffed bringing up the memory. "You know what his response was? He told me I was being paranoid and that the problem in our relationship wasn't him or you, it was _me_—that _I_ drove him away. Obviously, we broke up and the rest is history, but even though he didn't admit to having feelings for you, he didn't exactly deny it either."

"But…I don't understand. Why are you suddenly trying so hard to get him to admit it?" Jude asked, recalling their argument earlier.

"Because, Jude…part of me still feels like everything was my fault. Even though I know there was more to it, I can't help but believe that I did something to make him withdraw and our relationship fall apart. When I saw you two in the basement this morning, all of those emotions came back and I found myself on a mission to prove myself right. That whole charade I pulled with the kiss, it was all to get him to admit what he didn't that day. I was forcing him to face reality head on and allow me to close that chapter of my life," Sadie said feeling the tears well up.

"It can't be…" Jude thought aloud.

"It is, Jude. I swear. I may not know him like you do, but I know what I saw. And what I continue to see whenever the two of you are together. It's true."

"No, it can't be," Jude said shaking her head.

"Why not?" asked Sadie in bewilderment.

"Because…because I've been trying for the last year to get rid of him and now I'm supposed to give back in to those feelings when he won't even admit it to himself? I can't believe it's true, Sadie. I don't want to get hurt again."

"Jude, you can handle this however you want, but until you both come to terms with it, I can't let it go." Sadie muttered. "I love Ryan, but I can't give him more of myself until I have closure with Tommy."

Jude sat speechless and still in shock. Her mind was racing to comprehend everything she had just heard. Watching Sadie's tears fall, Jude suddenly felt guilty. Had she really been the reason for her sister's heartbreak?

She hung her head and softly whispered, "I'm sorry, Sadie."

"Don't be," she responded, wiping her eyes. "It's not your fault. For awhile, I thought it was. I thought you were intentionally trying to break us up, but this all happened before you even got home so it was really just him." Jude nodded in understanding.

Sadie continued, "Look, Jude, I know you're going to talk to Tommy about this, but can you keep it between the three of us? Ryan's already angry at me for causing a scene today, the last thing I need is for him to know I'm still stuck in Tommy-land."

"Sure," Jude agreed, watching Sadie yawn and standing to leave.

"Sadie, for what it's worth, thanks for telling me. I hated what you made me do downstairs and I seriously may never forgive you…"

"Oh come on, Jude. You know you loved it," Sadie said with a playful smile.

Jude hesitated but let the truth surface. "Okay, I loved it, at least while it was happening. But I hated that it happened in front of a crowd of people, including my ex," she said, remembering Jamie's irate reaction. "Anyway, you didn't have to tell me the truth about why you did this but you did. So thanks."

"No problem," Sadie responded watching Jude leave. "Jude?"

"Yeah?" she responded reappearing in the doorway.

Sadie paused and then said quietly, "He's a good kisser, isn't he?"

Jude blushed but smiled, knowing exactly what Sadie was referring to. "Good is an understatement. But I thought Ryan was your best?"

"I didn't say the best, I just said good. Ryan wins for overall magic but Tommy wins for intensity. And from what I witnessed today, it looks like you got a good dose of both."

Jude sighed, asking, "How can one person be so difficult and then make you feel like that?"

"Welcome to the world of guys, Jude. Get used to it. Especially if the guy is Tom Quincy—he's the king of contradiction."

Jude grinned in understanding and said, "Well, good night."

"Night," Sadie responded, watching Jude head out of the room.

She went downstairs, where everyone was already asleep. She eased herself into her sleeping bag and lay down. As exhausted as she was, she couldn't sleep. She kept tossing and turning, hearing Sadie's words repeating through her mind.

_He's in love with you. He may not admit it, not to you or to himself, but he definitely is._

_It was you all along, I was just the consolation prize._

_I could tell, just in the way that he looked at you, in the way that you looked at each other, there was this warmth there that I never had with him._

She grabbed her watch: 2:10am. She huffed at the sight and then suddenly had an idea. She grabbed a flashlight and her notebook and crept upstairs to her cold bedroom. She closed the door and started to write. She grabbed her guitar from the corner and lightly strummed a few chords. Inspiration took hold of her as she wrote feverishly. She had just completed the first verse as she heard a light tapping on the door. Thinking she had awoken Sadie in the next room, she ran to the door and said, "Sorry, Sadie, I was—"

But staring back at her wasn't Sadie. It was Tommy.

Jude instantly felt nervous looking into his blue eyes glowing in the light from his candle.

"Oh, sorry, I thought it was Sadie..." she said, looking down.

"It's okay. I couldn't sleep and I thought I heard music. Can I come in?" he asked, following her eyes which were looking anywhere but at him. Jude hesitated for a moment and then swung the door open to let him in.

She walked back over to the corner and grabbed her guitar, saying, "Just make sure the door is closed. I don't want to wake Sadie."

Tommy silently closed the door, making sure it was secure, and leaned back against it, feeling his palms sweat as he watched Jude gently sit on the ground with her guitar.


	13. Chapter 13

Okay, I'm back. I apologize for being M.I.A. over the last few weeks, but with the holiday rush and my job going haywire, I haven't posted as often as I wanted to. BUT, as my early holiday gift (at least I hope it's a gift!) to all of you, I've decided to post 2 chapters today. I'm feeling good about where the story stands and these two chapters definitely deserve to go together.

This chapter (13) is unofficially titled "Jude Speaks" and the next one (14) is "Tommy Speaks...Sort Of." I'm hoping everyone likes the updates since they are my way of saying thank you for all of your kind words and incredible feedback. It's so great to come home after an exhausting day and see people reading the story and even better, liking it! You guys have all been amazing and I could never have written this without you.

So I wish you all a very happy holiday season! I do have off on Friday so you may see one more post before the weekend, but no promises...hopefully, you'll be happy regardless :-) Enjoy!

* * *

Tommy silently closed the door, making sure it was secure, and leaned back against it, feeling his palms sweat as he watched Jude gently sit on the ground with her guitar. 

She plucked the strings on her guitar, trying to ignore his eyes intently staring at her. She scribbled some notes in her notebook and then looked up at him across the room. Although it was dark, she could tell he was uncomfortable—nervous, almost—which was a rare sight. He clung to the door while she clung to her guitar. She didn't know what to say but the silence was worse than awkward words, so she went to speak, finding her tone to be unexpectedly harsh.

"Can I…help you with something? Or did you just want to stand there watching me all night?"

He released himself from the door and walked towards her, sitting on the edge of her bed and putting his candle on her nightstand.

"What are you playing?"

"Just working on a song. I felt inspired for some odd reason," she said sarcastically and strummed a few chords. He sat back on the bed and sighed.

"Jude--"

"Don't. Just like last time and all the times before, don't say whatever it is that comes after my name."

Tommy rubbed his forehead and slid off the bed and onto the floor next to her. "You'll want to hear me out this time. This isn't like last time or the time before."

"And why is that? Because there were witnesses this time?" she snapped back.

He took a deep breath to calm down.

"Jude, I owe you an apology. A big one. I'm really sorry about what you heard before. It came out in a heated discussion between me and Sadie and I am so sorry that you had to hear it." She could see the genuine regret in his eyes, but his apology wasn't enough, it didn't even begin to cover what was running through her mind.

"Thanks, but there's no need to apologize for something that you meant to say, just not for me to hear," she said coolly, meeting his eyes with anger.

"What do you mean?"

"What you said—about _it_ not meaning anything—if you meant it, then you shouldn't apologize. _I _should apologize for hearing something you obviously didn't want me to."

He looked down and started toying with a piece of the carpet that had become loose.

"It's not like that…" he started.

"Then how is it, Tommy? Explain it to me," she said, her hands forcefully gripping her guitar.

He shifted on the floor, feeling a huge weight on his chest knowing she was awaiting his response.

"I…I don't know what to say. I just…I'm confused. I don't know how I feel about it." Jude rolled her eyes and turned back to her guitar while he struggled for words. She stopped playing for a moment and said, "You know, you can tell me if it didn't mean anything to you. I'm pretty much an adult now and I've been rejected by you enough to handle it."

"That's not it," he said, growing frustrated. "It's complicated."

"Really? Then let me make it simple for you," she offered. "Just repeat after me, 'Jude, it didn't mean anything. I meant what I said to Sadie.' Then, we can be done with it and I can finish my song."

"I can't do that, Jude," he protested.

"Yes, you can, just say it."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because!"

"Because why?"

"Because--because it isn't true!" he shouted, releasing his frustration into the room. She sat there stunned. He looked at her, her eyes sparkling in the candlelight. "It isn't true," he repeated quietly.

"It isn't?" she asked at the same volume. He shook his head silently.

"Then why did you say it?" She felt her tone calm down, regretting how ruthless she had been.

"It was an argument…I was angry, she said some things that really got to me, and it just came out. I'm really sorry."

She was speechless at his confession. She never thought she'd hear him admit to having any feelings towards her that may borderline on being more than friends.

"So…it meant something?" she asked timidly, needing to hear him say it.

He looked at her and knew at that moment that he would never get rid of the heaviness on his chest unless he gave in, even if just a little, to his true feelings.

"Yeah, it meant something," he responded softly, looking into her eyes.

The butterflies came swarming back to her stomach as she heard him mutter these words. They sat there silently gazing at each other. She wanted to lean over and kiss him but forced herself to stay in reality, as he cleared his throat, asking,

"So…you, um…you felt it too, huh?"

Jude blushed at his question. She figured it was a given that she had felt something but clearly, he needed to hear her express it too. "Umm…yeah, I felt it too," she said softly. "Although now I'm more confused than ever."

He looked at her quizzically. "How so?"

She looked down and played with her guitar pick. "Part of me is so angry with you for everything—for the denial, for telling me to forget that _certain_ things happened, for choosing Sadie…" she added and then continued. "Part of me hates you for putting me through so many ups and downs, for making me feel something and then taking it back."

He sat reflecting on her words. "And the other part?" he asked hopefully.

"That's the really confusing part. The other part has so many voices, I don't know which one to listen to anymore. There's you, telling me one thing but then acting another. Then there's Sadie…" her voice trailed off, recalling her conversation with her sister.

He looked uncomfortable. "She told you…didn't she?"

Jude nodded. "Everything. The thing is, I don't know if she's trying to justify your breakup or if, what she was saying…if it's true," she said quietly.

"Well, what about you? You're listing these other voices, but what about your own voice?"

She thought for a moment. "You know, I've spent the last year trying to convince myself that any feelings I may have had, that they were all a lie. That nothing was real. You made your choice and it wasn't me. But then that kiss…" she stopped, searching for the words to describe it. "It was just…amazing…" she concluded softly.

He gazed back at her. "I know," he quietly agreed.

"And everything I've tried so hard to get rid of, all of those feelings, they all came rushing back and even if I wanted to stop them, I couldn't. I feel like I'm back to where I started, only now, those feelings are stronger and that part of me that hates you, doesn't really care anymore."

She finished and took a deep breath to regain composure, in disbelief at her own honesty.


	14. Chapter 14

They sat in silence. He absorbed everything she said and found his chest becoming heavy once more. He knew he had run her around in circles the last two years. As if kissing her last year and then asking her to forget it wasn't enough, he had to go and date her sister. But how could he open up to her the way she just had? He wasn't sure if he knew how he felt, let alone tell her. And the consequences—he just kept thinking about what potential chaos would ensue if he let her in.

She watched him get up off the floor and walk towards the window, feeling her heart drop. She had just poured her heart out and he couldn't come up with one thing to say in return? She felt tears forming, despite her best attempts to keep them down. She looked down and strummed a few chords on her guitar, not wanting him to notice.

He looked out the window at the falling snow. "Jude, I know what I put you through this past year. You have to know that I never meant to hurt you."

"I know," she murmured.

"I am really confused about everything right now, but the one thing I know for sure is that I hate myself for upsetting you. You don't deserve it."

She nodded and shifted on the ground to face him. He looked down at her and felt his heart break when he saw the tears in her eyes.

"Jude," he started, moving her guitar and grabbing her hands to pull her up to her feet. "You've become my closest friend. I really care about you."

"But…" she said, sensing his next words.

He sighed. "Yes, that kiss was amazing and I did feel _something_. But I can't explain it. Even if I knew, it's just not that easy to tell you. It might mean crossing a line that I'm not sure would be right to cross."

"So…you'd rather lie about any feelings you have?"

"I didn't say that."

"Well, you're not saying much! You're suggesting we just deny everything until you're ready to talk. Or until I turn 18…" she said, turning away.

"That's not it!"

"Whatever," she said, exasperated, walking towards the bed. "Look, I get it. I get that you're confused. I get that I'm only 17. I get that we're supposed to have this producer-artist relationship, that nobody would understand, they would only make it harder, and that it would be this huge risk that could end in complete disaster. I get all of that," she said, walking back towards him. "But what I also get is that I can't pretend to be something I'm not. I get that I've spent the last year running away from something that only came back stronger. And I get why you want to put this off, but I can't do that. I'm tired of denying who I am and how I feel."

He looked into her eyes, feeling completely taken aback by her maturity and profound words.

"I…I don't know what to say…"

"So don't say anything," she whispered, sensing himbecome tenseas she stepped in closer.

He felt his heart beat faster and his breathing become constricted as she closed in on the space between them. He tried as hard as he could to not feel nervous, but he couldn't help it—she had this impact on him unlike anyone else. He looked at the way her hair fell across her face, the way her eyelashes fluttered when she blinked. He felt like he was being pulled in to her, mentally trying to fight himself out of it but not being strong enough to look away.

She looked deeply into his eyes and knew he was battling internally. She broke eye contact for a moment to look down and take his hand in hers. She slid her fingers in between his and felt him return the exchange, tightening his hold. He looked at their hands interwoven, feeling touched by her subtle gesture. He took her hand and brought it closer to him, next to his heart. She could feel it beating rapidly and smiled. He then brought her hand up to his mouth and lightly kissed her fingers. She felt her heart race watching him.

They locked eyes and he took his other hand and gently brushed her cheek. She felt as though she was going to melt, right there in the middle of her room. He held her face in his hand and brought it closer to him as he leaned in. She closed her eyes, feeling her knees weaken as their lips touched. She wrapped her hands around his back and held him tightly so she wouldn't collapse. He returned the motion and held her waist. He felt the same rush of energy he had earlier when they kissed and immediately enveloped her mouth with kisses. She felt his lips take hold of hers, fully giving in to the moment. He kissed her passionately, releasing all of his emotions and things he wanted to say but couldn't.

They stood by the window, virtually in an embrace, getting lost in each other's kiss. He started to take a few steps forward towards the bed as she followed his direction. Feeling the edge of the bed against the back of her knees, she instinctively sat down with him not once taking his lips off of hers. She leaned back and held onto him as she felt him climb on the bed. He kissed her intensely, not wanting to release her from his arms. He ran his hands through her hair as she felt his heart beat against her chest.

She caught her breath as his lips momentarily broke from hers to start kissing her neck. She slowly opened her eyes, not knowing if what was happening was real, and watched him holding her and kissing the side of her neck. He came back up to her lips and noticed that her eyes were open. He looked into her eyes, which were warm but contemplative.

He lightly kissed her lips and whispered softly, "You okay?"

She gazed into his eyes and nodded. She didn't know if she could verbalize what she was thinking but she wanted to try. "It's just…I'm not ready…"

He watched her fumble for words and grinned in understanding. "It's okay," he said, touching her cheek. "There's no rush. I don't know if I'm even ready yet," he said, smiling at her and remembering that she was only 17. "We'll just take our time, okay?"

She smiled faintly at him and nodded, feeling relieved. He waited a moment to make sure she was content and then leaned back down lightly kissing her. She closed her eyes again and let herself fall back into her surreal world full of ponies, chocolate, and Tommy's soft kisses.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed :) Happy Holidays everyone! 


	15. Chapter 15

In honor of my day off, here's one more quick post. It's not a high-action sequence but it's still one of my favorites :) More Tommy/Jude cuteness. Thanks again for all of your feedback and great responses. Enjoy this next part and have a happy holiday weekend!

* * *

Lying on the bed that she had spent nearly every night of her life in, Jude's eyes were open and staring at her ceiling. She felt Tommy's warm breath in her ear as he slept on his side, with one arm draped over her. She was afraid to move, afraid to sleep in case she woke up to realize it had all been a dream. So she lay there, counting the cracks in her ceiling, feeling the chill in the room, and taking mental pictures of Tommy next to her. She examined the random items scattered on the ground—4 socks, 1 sweatshirt, 1 flannel shirt, and 1 blanket. They were both sleeping in t-shirts and sweatpants, which were too lightweight for the lack of heat in the room. She shivered listening to the wind pound against the window. 

Feeling her lightly shake from the cold, Tommy stirred, half-asleep. Jude watched as he moved, removing his arm from her and turning onto his back. His eyes fluttered and slowly opened, looking up at the same ceiling she had been. He turned his head towards her and saw her looking back at him with a small smile.

"Hi," he said softly.

"Hi," she said in return.

He smiled and turned back the way he had been, up against her side with one arm around her. "Are you cold?" he asked closing his eyes again.

"Umm…maybe a little…" she said hesitantly.

"Just a little? I woke up to your shivering."

"Oh, sorry. Okay, maybe more than a little. There's no heat in here remember."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," he said grinning. She could see him smiling next to her and smiled herself. "Do you want to grab your sweatshirt?" he asked.

"Um, sure," she said eyeing it on the ground. He moved his arm to let her get up. She jumped off the bed and grabbed her sweatshirt, pulling it over her head. She slipped her socks on too and headed back.

"How about mine?" he asked, with his eyes still closed and head on the pillow.

"I thought you weren't cold," she said with a smirk.

"I am, now that you moved," he said with a small grin.

She leaned down and grabbed his flannel and socks and walked back handing him everything. She took the fallen blanket off the ground as he opened his eyes and sat up, putting the flannel on and then his socks. She put the blanket on the bed and then lay back down.

"Better?" he said, looking down at her.

"Yes, definitely," she said grinning.

He smiled back at her, spread the blanket out to cover them, and resumed his position next to her. She pulled the blanket up to her chin as he slid his arm around her.

She lay there with her eyes open. He peeked at her and saw her staring at the ceiling. Placing his hand over her eyes to close them, he whispered, "Go to sleep."

"I can't," she responded, moving his hand off her eyes. "If I close my eyes, I might sleep too late. My mom gets up in a few hours and she's seriously going to flip out if she walks in here and sees us."

"So you're going to stay up until then?"

"I guess."

At that, he sighed and sat up, leaning over her to grab something on the nightstand. She watched him lean over her and felt her heart skip a beat, not sure what he was doing. He took his watch off the nightstand and held it up to the moonlight to see what time it was.

"It's 4:15. What time do you want to get up?"

She looked at him and smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah, that's what the watch is for," he teased, shaking it in front of her.

"Um, maybe 6:30? Wait, no—6:15. That gives us about a half hour buffer."

"6:15 it is," he said, spinning a dial on his watch and putting it back on the nightstand next to her. He started to shift back to his side but paused for a second over her, noting her grin.

"Thanks," she said softly.

He looked at her for a moment, peacefully snuggled into her bed with the blanket up to her chin. She looked so cozy, so sweet. He leaned into her and gave her a light kiss on her lips. He then put his head down next to her and said quietly, "You're welcome."

She felt herself beam as she closed her eyes and relaxed under his arm. She was taking another mental picture of the moment as she started to drift off to sleep.

* * *

"Jude? You awake?" 

Tommy lightly shook her. "Earth to Jude!" he said shaking her harder.

She started to stir hearing a distant voice in her ear.

"No…just another half hour…" she mumbled, pulling the blanket over her.

He groaned watching her go back to sleep and tried once more to wake her up. "Jude--get up. Your mom's going to be up soon."

It was silent for a moment and then her small voice said, "Tommy?"

"Yeah…are you up?"

She pulled the blanket back with her eyes half open. "Sort of. What time is it?"

"6:15. Just like you wanted."

She rubbed her eyes, piecing together the night before. She grinned, remembering how she fell asleep. He looked at her smiling and couldn't help but smile back. "Well it's about time. That took a lot of energy to wake you up."

"Yeah, once I'm out, I'm out," she replied, sitting up with her hair a knotted mess. He laughed a little looking at her.

She watched him get out of bed and followed. They tidied up the room, folding the blanket, gathering the candles and flashlight. They silently started to make their way towards the door when she stopped him.

"Tommy?" she said quietly. She wasn't sure exactly what she wanted to say but she didn't want to leave the room. She looked up at him and noticed that the tag from his shirt was hanging out in front. She started giggling, "Your shirt's on backwards."

He looked down and noticed it was both inside out and backwards. "So it is," he said, taking off the flannel, flipping it inside out and turning it around, before putting it back on top of his t-shirt. "Better?" he said looking at her.

"Much."  
He looked at her and moved a piece of her hair out of her eyes. "We should head downstairs."

She sighed looking into his eyes. She had so many questions, so many things she wanted to ask him…

_What now? Were they together? How did he really feel about her? _

But she decided to push her concerns to the back of her head and keep this memory a happy one. So she just nodded and smiled as he opened the door. They quietly slipped downstairs and separated, him heading into the dining room and her sneaking back into her sleeping bag in the living room.


	16. Chapter 16

I'm back and I hope everyone had a nice holiday!

This next post, and the one that will follow it, are two more of my favorites. I always seem to love the ones with juicy drama or Tommy/Jude cuteness. These are drama filled, so I'm hoping you love them too. I'm taking a mini-vacation to celebrate New Year's so I'll be gone from Thurs thru Sunday. But, I promise to update with the next post on Wed before I leave and then again when I get back. I'm thinking you'll want the next update quickly after you read this chapter--it's a bit of a cliffhanger :-)

Just wanted to send another quick note of thanks to everybody for all of your reviews. I feel honored in a way to be getting such nice feedback--you all are truly the best! Hope you enjoy this chapter too!

* * *

The snow continued to fall outside as Jude stared at the ceiling, only this ceiling had less cracks. A smile was plastered on her face as she remembered every detail of the night before. The feel of his hand on her cheek, how he held her while he slept. In a daze, she forced herself up and headed towards the kitchen while everyone else slept. 

Her mom was making coffee as she grabbed a Pop Tart from the box on the counter and sat down, still in thought. Kat, Kristen, Ryan, and Drew appeared in the doorway moments later.

"Morning," Kristen said, sitting next to Jude. "Where's Sadie? She's not in her sleeping bag."

"She slept upstairs. We were hanging out up there so she just stayed for the night," Jude responded, hoping to avoid more questions in front of Ryan.

"Hey," Drew said, approaching Jude. "I feel like I didn't see you yesterday."

"Yeah, I know. I guess we both got pulled into separate games," Jude lied.

"Do you want to hang out today?" he asked.

"Um…maybe, yeah," Jude replied dubiously. Just then, she caught a glimpse of Kwest, Jamie, and Tommy approaching the counter. She immediately felt nervous at the sight of him. He grew tense as he spotted her, watching Drew flirt with her and remembering their night before.

Jude feigned paying attention to Drew's story about his Monopoly game yesterday, feeling Tommy's eyes on her. She laughed with Drew, subtly turning her head to meet his eyes across the room. She smiled at him and he gave her a small smile back. She quickly looked back at Drew, hoping he hadn't noticed.

Tommy subtly moved towards the box of Pop Tarts behind Jude. Drew stopped his story as he approached, recalling the Truth or Dare game the day before.

"So…Jude, want to play cards? I'm the master Gin Rummy player," Drew said, watching Tommy take a Pop Tart out of the box. Jude kept her eyes on Drew but felt flustered.

"What? Oh umm, sure…I don't know how to play Gin Rummy though."

"I can teach you," Drew offered as Tommy brushed up against Jude's shoulder putting the box back on the counter.

She turned to look at him, "Hi."

"Hi," he responded. He then looked at Drew and said, "Hey."

"Hey," Drew said, turning to resume his conversation with Jude. "So, I'll teach you."

"Is it like Go Fish?" Jude questioned.

Tommy sniggered, still listening, as Drew responded, "Nope. Go Fish doesn't require much thought. This game does."

"Then Jude won't like it," Tommy mumbled.

"What?" she said to him, acting offended.

"You won't like it. You'd rather play a game that doesn't make your head hurt," he scoffed.

"Excuse me, I enjoy thinking. I played Scrabble yesterday--that involves thought."

"And how did you do?" Tommy replied, knowing the answer.

Jude sunk into her seat, not wanting to admit her total word score was 22 when everyone else was over 100. She turned back to Drew and avoided Tommy's question. "You were saying—Gin Rummy?"

Tommy laughed as Drew decided to get her away from his competition. "Let's go play. I'll show you how, you'll do great."

Jude shrugged and hesitantly stood up to follow him, meeting Tommy's eyes. She started to walk and looked back at him with a coy smile, sensing an opportunity to make him jealous. He shook his head and smiled back, watching her leave.

Drew spent all morning teaching Jude how to play Gin Rummy, which she didn't care for. Sadie had gotten up late and was reading a book on the sofa, while Tommy, Jamie and Kat were playing Chutes and Ladders. Jude's mom and Steven were playing Scrabble at the dining room table.

Drew was focused on Jude, but Jude couldn't help but occasionally sneak glances at Tommy who kept stealing glances back at her. She felt butterflies whenever their eyes met. The longer she sat there, the more restless she became with Drew.

Kwest, who had apparently found a radio the night before, brought it into the dining room for the weather report. Everyone stopped their games to listen. A voice said that the snow was slowing but was expected to reach a total of about 2 feet. A few people walked into the dining room to listen further, which Jude took as her cue to leave.

She stood up, saying, "I need a break. I'm going to see if there are any other games in the basement." Drew nodded and joined the group around the radio.

Jude slipped out of the room and headed into the basement holding a flashlight. She walked towards the back corner and leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath to unwind. She was with Drew but all she could think about was Tommy. She didn't know what was going on between them, but whatever it was, took hold of her.

Slumping against the wall, she heard creaking on the stairs. She shone her flashlight towards the sound to see none other than the guy on her mind. He pointed his flashlight back at her and smiled.

"You didn't think I was going to let you come down here by yourself, did you?"

She turned the flashlight off and shook her head. "Guess it's kind of hard to escape, considering we can't go very far."

"You're escaping?" Tommy said, walking over and leaning against the wall next to her.

She looked at him and sighed. "Not escaping exactly. Just needing to breathe."

He turned towards her. "Why can't you breathe?"

She opened her mouth to speak but stopped herself. She couldn't breathe because of him, because of how he was making her feel, but she didn't want to admit that.

So she softly said, "I think you know why."

They looked at each other in the dark and she noticed that he was gently holding her hand. She bit her bottom lip at his touch, feeling him strengthen his grip and edge in closer to her. The tension intensified as he looked into her eyes, not being able to resist her gaze. He surrendered and grabbed her, pressing his lips onto hers. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. He kissed her deeply as she leaned up against the wall, feeling his hands run up and down her sides.

Her eyes were shut but she vaguely heard the sound of footsteps above them in the living room.

"Closet," she managed to get out in between kisses.

Still clinging to each other, they stumbled towards the closet. She felt the closet door behind her and reached for the knob, their kiss not wavering. She turned it, releasing the door. They parted lips for a moment, breathing heavily, and she stepped into the closet, grabbing his shirt and pulling him in with her. He walked towards her and reunited his lips with hers as she kicked the door closed. Stepping further into the closet, she ran her fingers through his hair, while he tugged at her sweatshirt.

Jude leaned up against what she thought was the wall, but realized it wasn't a wall and it was moving. She jumped, causing them to break apart. Suddenly, a bright light shone on both of them and Jude shrieked as she saw who she had bumped into.


	17. Chapter 17

As promised, here is the next chapter...you guys are truly amazing with all of your responses! I can't say thank you enough, it's really inspiring. Since I'm heading out for the weekend, I wish you all a very happy New Year! Here's to more IS in 2006 and plenty more of your amazing fanfics to keep us all going! I'll make sure to update once I'm back, but until then, hope you enjoy :-)

* * *

Jude's shriek startled everyone, and as she went to yell again, Tommy covered her mouth with his hand to avoid anyone upstairs hearing. Jude quieted down and Tommy slowly removed his hand. They stood in disbelief looking at the couple holding the flashlight. 

"What are you two doing down here?" Tommy asked.

"By the looks of it, the same thing you two are doing," Ryan responded. Kristen hid behind him, buttoning her shirt.

"Oh my god, oh my god," Jude repeated. "I am _so _not seeing this."

Just then, they heard Mrs. Harrison yell from upstairs, "Everything okay down there?"

Tommy and Jude looked at each other in panic. He nudged her to respond, so she yelled, "Uhh, yeah, sorry! Just thought I saw a mouse!"

They heard Mrs. Harrison's footsteps retreat into the living room as they turned their attention back to the scene before them. The four of them looked at each other, not knowing where to begin.

"How long…when did this…have you been cheating on her the whole time?" Jude said to Ryan.

"No. This just started, last night. After the whole Truth or Dare thing," Ryan said, looking between Tommy and Jude. "Which actually brings me to the two of you. Was this going on before the game yesterday?"

"No," they both said simultaneously. Tommy and Jude awkwardly looked at each other, realizing their physical appearances, messy hair and clothes disheveled. Smoothing out her hair, Jude said, "It just kind of…happened. After the game yesterday."

"Not surprising," Ryan said with a smirk.

"Enough about us, this is about you and my sister, who you're dating! And who's supposed to be your best friend!" Jude cried, pointing to Kristen. "How could you do this to her?"

Kristen and Ryan looked at each other. "We didn't mean to," Kristen said. "We don't want to hurt her …"

"But after the whole commotion yesterday, Kristen and I started talking," Ryan continued. "I was angry about how Sadie acted and Kristen understood. We bonded over the whole thing and before we knew it, we were making out in the laundry room."

"Too much information," Jude commented quietly.

"Anyway, it's nothing serious, it's just a blizzard thing," Kristen said.

"Just a blizzard thing?" Jude repeated.

"Yeah. You know, it'll be done when the blizzard is over. I love Sadie, I don't want to break up with her. This ends once we get out of here," Ryan said, looking disappointedly at Kristen.

"Why not end it now? I could easily run upstairs and tell Sadie what's going on," Jude threatened.

"You could, but somehow, I think more people would be interested in knowing about a certain 17 year old Instant Star getting it on with her 23 year old producer," Ryan sneered.

Tommy, who had been unusually quiet, stepped forward, saying gravely, "You wouldn't…"

"I probably wouldn't. As long as what you two witnessed doesn't leave this basement. Deal?"

The four of them looked at each other, knowing they needed to trust each other to keep their secrets quiet. Jude looked at Tommy and shrugged, knowing they had no choice.

"Deal," Tommy said, shaking Ryan's hand.

"Okay, then. So what's our story as we all leave here?"

"Maybe we can leave first, saying that we were cleaning the basement," Kristen suggested to Ryan.

"Cleaning? Sadie will never believe that, but she probably didn't even notice we were gone. After you," Ryan beckoned, letting Kristen exit first through the closet door.

Tommy and Jude were left alone in the closet. She grabbed the flashlight on the ground and turned to look at him. He was rubbing his forehead pacing around the small space, clearly anxious and deep in thought.

"Tommy? You okay?" she asked, slightly alarmed at his actions.

He continued to pace, not hearing her. So she stepped directly into his pacing line and grabbed his arms to stop him from moving.

"Hey, you okay?"

He looked at her but she could see the distance in his eyes. "No, I'm not. And you shouldn't be either."

"What are you talking about?"

He slid out of her grip, walking across the closet, rubbing his head again. "Jude, this can't happen."

"What can't?"

"This. _Us._ Being caught by Ryan and Kristen was a close call. _Too_ close."

Jude felt her heart start to race. "But it was just that, a close call. As long as we don't say anything—"

"It could've been anybody down here. It could've been Sadie or Jamie or even your mom. Close isn't good enough. We need to make sure this doesn't happen."

"We just have to be more careful."

"That's not good enough," he said dismissively. "It's too big of a risk. I can't do this."

She felt a lump form in her throat as she looked at him. "I…I thought this was what you wanted…"

"It is, but not now. Not yet. There's too much on the line," he said walking towards her, "I don't want to hurt you but it just…can't continue right now."

"So…we're just a blizzard thing too?" she said, feeling the tears welling up in her eyes.

"No," he stated quickly. "We're not. But we can't do this now, not until there are fewer consequences if we're discovered."

"Fewer consequences? Tommy, there will always be consequences," Jude cried, feeling the tears fall. "Even when I turn 18, we're still going to have to deal with the studio, with Georgia and Darius, and my parents, who still won't approve. When will there not be consequences?"

He stood there blankly. "I honestly don't know. But at least when you're 18, there's a huge hurdle that's taken off the table," he tried to rationalize. He walked closer to her and grabbed her hands, "We just need to be patient. What is it—5 months?" She nodded. "Well, that's not long. We can do it."

"I don't believe you," she said through tears, pulling her hands away from him. "In 5 months, you're still not going to be ready. There will still be risks and you're still going to have issues."

"That's not true. Those risks won't matter as much then," he protested.

"So I'm just supposed to wait around for you?" she asked angrily.

He sighed, considering her question. "If you want...I guess that's your decision."

"Well, you're making that decision easy for me. If you can't do this now, who's to say you'll be ready in 5 months? Would I just be waiting around so you can hurt me again? I can't do that, Tommy."

"You don't trust me?" he pleaded softly, realizing she was about to give up before anything had actually started.

"With everything else in my life—yes. But when it comes to us, how can I? You keep playing these games with me and you still haven't even told me how you feel about me."

"Jude, I…"

"It's too late," she said wiping away her falling tears. "I don't want to hear it now. You made your decision, so here's mine: You don't want to do this now, so I'm not promising I'll be around in 5 months for you. And then you're going to regret ever making this decision," she said coldly, opening up the closet door and storming out, leaving him speechless in the dark closet.


	18. Chapter 18

Happy New Year everyone! I'm back from an amazing vacation and have been catching up on my sleep all day. But I wanted to make sure I posted this next part.

When I got back from vacation, I looked at my story and saw over 150 reviews, which completely blew me away! You guys totally rock. It's so nice to see new people reading and commenting, and I love seeing the same people posting their thoughts since the beginning--you all are the best and I'm truly thankful for your responses.

The feedback to the last chapter was interesting--some were upset about the T/J fight and others liked how Jude stuck up for herself. And some of you are on the same page as me in terms of how Jude's reaction is going to unravel, which you'll see in this next post. But don't worry, I have some upcoming twists and turns that will keep you all on your toes :-)

Two last things--in this next post, I "borrow" a line from another of my TV faves, Alias. It's a question that Kwest asks Tommy about how starting something with Jude would impact their careers. It's tweaked to fit this situation but it's a great line that's entirely attributed to JJ Abrams. Also, there's reference to something in Tommy's past that will be further discussed in later chapters. Don't worry, all in good time...

I can hear you all saying, "Enough rambling already!" so here goes the next chapter...enjoy!

* * *

"You did _what?_" Kwest asked taking a bite of his mac and cheese lunch, as Tommy splashed his face with cold water from the sink. 

"We were together…sort of…and then I told her we need to cool off. The timing just sucks," Tommy said, wiping his face with a towel.

"So you led her on and then dumped her?"

Tommy looked at Kwest angrily. "No! I didn't dump her, I just told her we need to put whatever we started on hold."

"You do realize--that's basically the same thing."

Tommy sighed as they headed into the empty dining room. Jude was in her bedroom but everyone had witnessed their exit scene—her storming out of the basement and running upstairs, followed by Tommy emerging from the basement moments after. He kept his voice quiet, feeling all eyes, yet again, on him.

"Yeah, well, that's pretty much how she took it too. She said something about me not being ready in a few months and that she wasn't going to wait around."

"That's fair," Kwest agreed, grabbing the nearby Checkers game. Tommy glared at him. "It is! Why should she wait around for you when you can't make up your mind? Besides, that girl is a lot of things but patient isn't one of them."

"It doesn't matter, this can't happen. Not now at least. And I don't need to list out the reasons."

"They're all crap," Kwest responded.

"Excuse me?" Tommy asked setting up his side of the board.

"Your rationalizing—it's all crap. Here's how I see it," Kwest started. "Your big issues are her age and working together. Both valid reasons." Tommy nodded, prodding Kwest to continue.

"Okay, the age thing. She's turning 18 in what—six months?"

"Five," Tommy clarified.

"Even better. Those five months won't mean anything one way or the other. As long as you can control yourself, you know—_physically_—you're technically not doing anything wrong."

Tommy grumbled. "Go on," he instructed.

"Now for your career issues, don't you think that the reason your music is so good is because of the feelings you have for each other?"

Tommy looked up, eyebrows raised.

"It's true, man. You two have something, and it keeps you going, it keeps you inspired. If anybody doubts it, they just have to listen. And if they threaten to toss you, the music is the thing that would suffer the most."

Tommy sat contemplating his words, liking the spin Kwest had put on the situation.

"Your only other issue is how people are going to react. But do you really care? People have been disagreeing with your decisions your whole life and you've managed to deal with them." Tommy nodded, sensing Kwest's reference to his parents' disapproval of his career choice.

"So yes, all of your excuses and logic, it's all crap," he concluded, folding his arms and looking satisfied with himself.

"Wow…that was pretty good," Tommy commented. "But weren't you the one who told me to wait a few years?"

"Yeah, and I still believe that. It would be much easier on both of you if you could put this thing on hold. But let's be honest, if you put it off any longer because you can't get past your issues, you may be throwing away your shot with her," Kwest added, before starting the game.

"Sounds like you've thought about this a lot," Tommy responded.

"Maybe I have. Hey, I gotta think about something while you two are flirting and I'm stuck there too," Kwest said.

Tommy spent all afternoon thinking about Kwest's opinion. He made some convincing points, but would it all be worth it? At the end of the day, he'd be putting both of their lives and careers at risk. He needed to be positive that he wanted to be with her before he put her life on the line too.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Jude was furiously strumming on her guitar as Kat entered holding a bowl of mac & cheese.

"Jude?" she asked, not getting a response. "Jude!"

Jude jumped and stopped playing, looking up at Kat. "Oh sorry, I didn't hear you. Come in," she urged as Kat took a seat on her desk chair and handed Jude the bowl of pasta.

"Thanks," she said, moving the guitar aside and digging in to her lunch.

"Everything okay? It sounds like you're trying to injure your guitar."

"Just frustrated. You know, it's a shame, this song was going to be really upbeat and sweet. Not deserving of him at all."

"Not deserving of who exactly?" Kat asked.

Jude rolled her eyes, "I'll give you one guess."

Kat knew it immediately, "Tommy."

"The one and only."

"What did he do now?" Kat asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

Jude stopped chewing. "It's not what he did, it's what he didn't do. Or what he decided not to do. Although he never said he wanted to do it in the first place, so…"

"Okay, Jude—English?"

Jude sighed. "He was just…so cute…so sweet…and then he ruined it."

"Does this have anything to do with last night?" Jude raised her eyebrows at Kat's reference, knowing she hadn't mentioned one word of her night to Kat. "Oh, don't look so surprised. You had this goofy grin plastered on your face this morning and I happened to notice that you weren't in your sleeping bag last night."

Jude smiled. Kat was so smart. "Yeah, sort of. I'll spare you the details but basically, he wanted me last night, today he doesn't."

"Jude—no offense, but isn't this your normal cycle with him? One minute you think he's into you and then the next—"

"No, Kat, this time, it was real," Jude stated, looking into her eyes.

Kat sighed and moved down next to Jude. "I know I've said this before, but this thing you have with him, you deserve better. You deserve somebody who genuinely wants to be with you, not just when it's convenient," Kat said sensibly.

"You know," Jude said considering Kat's perspective, "you're right. I'm not going to wait around for him. Why do I deserve this? I want someone who really wants to be with me, without doubt."

"Exactly! You deserve to be treated better."

"Right! I can date whoever I want to and he's going to have to deal with it!" Jude said, feeling empowered.

With that comment, Jude hugged Kat, thanking her for her help, and they both stood to go downstairs. Jude felt confident in herself and in her decision.

And besides, a little jealousy never hurt to move things along.

So she walked straight into the living room, avoiding Tommy's eyes, and took a seat next to Drew. She smiled and grabbed his hand as she sat, saying, "I'm so sorry I left before. I had to take care of something, but it's done now. Want to keep playing?"

Drew nodded with a smile and led her back to where their card game was still set up. She smiled following him, knowing the effect her actions would have on Tommy.


	19. Chapter 19

Hi, all. One quick a/n: A lot of your feedback (which is all amazing!) has to do with Tommy & Jude getting together already but don't worry, I'm a huge T/J fan! I love them both but they're both stubborn and I just can't imagine them jumping from friends to more so quickly. So I do apologize, but I'm forcing you all to be patient. I know, I'm cruel :-) I think my story is more about how they get there, or at least that's what it's turned into. I'm trying to move the story along, but I promise, there's more drama still to come.

All of your comments and reviews have been incredible--I love all of you guys! And for those who commented on Alias, I'm so happy you caught my reference :) Wouldn't JJ be proud?

So without further ado, here's the next part...

* * *

As dusk settled in, Jude was satisfied with how her plan was moving along. She continuously noticed Tommy in the corner, grinding his jaw, which only enhanced her actions. She and Drew had stopped the card game to play Monopoly along with Jamie and Kat. Jude became overly enthralled with all of Drew's stories, laughing hysterically at all of his jokes, and giving him hugs whenever someone else landed on one of his properties and had to pay him. Jamie and Kat kept glaring at each other as Jude's over-inflated personality was driving them both nuts. 

Once Jude officially handed the last of her Monopoly money to Drew, her mother announced that dinner was ready. On her way to the kitchen, Jude accidentally met Tommy's eyes across the room. She wanted to give him a cold, unemotional glare, but instead, she unexpectedly felt sadness wash over her. She remembered how content they had been the night before and that morning, but now they were back to their usual state of denial. She broke eye contact as she looked down and entered the kitchen.

She sat next to Drew and talked to him throughout dinner, more calmly and quietly than before, suddenly feeling self-conscious about her blatant display of interest in him.

As dinner ended, Jude offered to help with the dishes, figuring it would give her some time to think. Her mom left to help Steven with the firewood as Jude washed, hearing footsteps behind her.

"Need some help drying?" Tommy asked.

Jude looked at him and shrugged. "If you want," she replied apathetically.

He grabbed a towel and started wiping the washed glasses.

"So…you uh, had a nice afternoon?" he asked uncomfortably.

"It was great," she said. "I played cards and Monopoly…"

"Yeah, I think everybody heard whenever you collected money," he said, referring to her exaggerated and loud reactions.

"That wasn't for me, that was for Drew," Jude clarified. "He played really well."

"I bet he did," Tommy mumbled, barely audible.

"What was that?" Jude asked, not catching his comment.

"Nothing, it just seems like you two are pretty close."

"Well, he's cool and I like hanging out with him. Why? Jealous, Quincy?"

Tommy shrugged. "No, why should I care?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because it could've been you I was hanging out with, but instead, I'm with somebody who actually _wants_ to be with me," she replied bitterly, shoving a clean bowl towards him.

Tommy sighed, trying to stay calm. "Look, Jude, I've been doing some thinking about what happened before," he said.

Jude furiously washed another bowl, not wanting to rehash their earlier conversation.

"I don't really feel like talking about it," she said. "I think we've said enough."

"No, this is important," he replied, stopping drying and looking at her.

"It's important? So what—you've had some sort of revelation and decided you want me again?" she spat, turning off the water and turning towards him. "Is that what you were going to say? That you're ready now?"

He searched for words, wanting to tell her what he was thinking and how he felt, but just stood there speechless.

"Okay then. Until you figure out what you want, we don't have anything left to say to each other about this," she said, walking away.

He sighed and put his elbows on the counter with his hands covering his eyes. She was right—how could he talk to her until he was positive about what he wanted? Kwest had given him some points to think about but he needed to make a decision one way or another. And he knew just the person to help him figure everything out once and for all.

He walked into the living room and eyed Sadie across the room. He walked over to her and crouched down to where she was sitting with Ryan.

"Hey, got a second to talk?" he asked quietly.

Sadie whispered something to Ryan, kissed him on the cheek, and stood up to head into the laundry room, with Tommy closely following. She closed the door as he put his candle down on the washer.

"Thanks for agreeing to talk to me. I know we sort of left things on a bad note last night," he said, feeling anxious with the situation but knowing he needed her advice.

"What do you want Tom?" she asked, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

"A couple of things," he said, taking a deep breath. "This isn't easy…I owe you an apology."

Sadie looked surprised. "For what?"

"For everything. I said some things last night I didn't mean and I've done some things…I've done some things I'm not proud of when it came to you," he said, walking towards the window. "Lord knows I wasn't the perfect boyfriend to you."

"Perfect? Tommy, please, I've had bus drivers who treated me better than you did," she said, watching him across the room.

"It's just...," he started, "I didn't mean to screw everything up and hurt you." He turned to look at her, still standing with her arms crossed. "That night when we broke up, I still think about it—about what you said and how I reacted. I have a lot of regrets about when we were together, but I can't tell you how much I wish I could take back what I said to you that night."

Sadie still stood coldly. "And what exactly was that?"

"You know, the part about you being the problem. You weren't the problem at all," he said, looking down, "I was."

"You're just saying that," she retorted.

"No," he said, looking into her eyes, "I was the problem, not you. I had…issues…that I was dealing with and that's why we broke up."

"And your issues, did they or didn't they involve my sister?"

Tommy shifted uncomfortably. Silence set over the room as Sadie waited patiently for an answer. After a few moments, he quietly mumbled, "Yeah, sort of."

"Sort of?" she questioned, wanting him to fully admit it.

"It wasn't just her, it was me too. I wasn't happy with my actions, how I was treating you. I was frustrated—things weren't right between us and I didn't know how to fix it. And yes, some of it was about her too. But I didn't plan on her being involved at all."

"And everything I thought about your feelings for her? Was I really being delusional?"

He closed his eyes and hung his head, knowing he needed to be truthful. "No, you're not delusional. In fact, you pretty much hit the nail on the head."

She opened her mouth in awe, stunned at his honesty. "Wow. Really?"

"Yeah, you freaked me out. Which is why I said some of the things I did."

"So…are you…in love with her?"

He swallowed, feeling a lump in his throat. "Maybe…I don't know, but it's something. Something I can't shake. Which is part of why I'm here. Sadie, I really need your help. I need to get her back."


	20. Chapter 20

Hi--Here's the next chapter. I realized that it's actually appropriate that we're moving on to Chapter 20, as this chapter brings Jude and company into the third and final full day stuck in the house. But before then, we see Tommy get some words of wisdom from Sadie. Anyway, thanks again for all of your amazing reviews--you guys always have the best feedback and ideas. I love it all. Enjoy!

* * *

"Sadie, I really need your help. I need to get her back," Tommy said. 

"Back? Why is she gone?" Sadie asked, confused.

"Well, I sort of made the mistake of starting something last night and then taking it back this morning, so now she won't even talk to me. I don't want to upset her any more, but I can't seem not to," Tommy said sincerely.

"So that explains the overly dramatic interest in Drew…," Sadie thought aloud, to which Tommy nodded in agreement. She turned back to him. "Well, you've kind of been a jerk to her. Not more than you were to me, but a jerk nonetheless," she said, her tone warming.

"I know. I need your advice. You know Jude and you know me—do you think there's hope for me?"

"Maybe, depending on how you handle this," she said, leaning against the dryer in thought. "First, don't try to make things right until you're positive as to what you want. If you go back to her with doubts, she's going to know and then your chance will be gone."

"Okay, but let's just say, hypothetically, that's not an issue. That I know what I want. Then what?"

"Hypothetically? I would work to gain her trust. Be there for her. Show her that you're serious and that you're not going to run away. She's not going to want to be with you until she knows you're not going to hurt her again."

He nodded, "Okay."

"And don't just make her believe it—you have to believe it yourself. For somebody who has more confidence than anybody I've ever met, you always seem so anxious whenever it comes to my sister."

"Tell me about it," he admitted shaking his head.

"If you do this, make sure you're smart about it. Don't make it harder than it needs to be."

"Got it," he said, leaning over to hug her. "Thanks, Sadie. That was really helpful."

She hugged him back, "Listen, Jude and I have had our differences, but the girl is still my blood. I'm stuck with her even when you're out of the picture. If you play your cards right, then maybe that won't be so fast," she said grinning. She felt at ease with the situation, like she had genuinely helped him and her sister and had even received the closure she needed.

"I think I'm going to find Ryan," Sadie said.

"Okay, thanks again," he said humbly.

"Well, thank you," Sadie replied, leaving Tommy alone. He stood there for a few moments, recalling everything that Sadie and Kwest had told him. He knew what he had to do, but it wasn't going to be easy.

"Jude, it's your turn," Drew said. "Jude?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry," she said, taking a card from the stack and discarding one from her hand.

They were back to playing Gin Rummy. Drew tried to make Jude love the game, but so far, she only loved watching the drama unfold around her.

Jude watched Sadie and Tommy enter the laundry room, immediately followed by Ryan and Kristen sneaking upstairs. She waited to hear yelling coming from the laundry room, but no such noise was heard. Everything was quiet until Sadie came out half an hour later actually looking pleased. Moments later, Tommy emerged, also looking content, which only piqued Jude's curiosity. She watched as Sadie went upstairs to find Ryan, expecting to hear more yelling. But she and Ryan appeared, walking hand in hand down the stairs, with Kristen following. Finally, she realized that Jamie and Kat were missing too, but brushed this off as being semi-normal.

Jude kept thinking about what had transpired between Sadie and Tommy. Why did they look so happy? She couldn't concentrate, so she told Drew she was going to sleep. As they hugged goodnight, Drew studied her face, which was scrunched up in thought.

"Jude, I have to ask you…is there something going on with you and your producer?"

Jude sighed. "Drew, I thought we already discussed this. Tommy and I are just friends."

"I know what you told me, but I also know what I saw. Yesterday and today. There's something going on, I'm just not sure what." Jude looked down at the ground. He continued, "Look, I like you. And I got the sense that you liked me, at least yesterday morning and this afternoon. But in between, you seem like a totally different person. I don't get it."

Jude looked up. "I like you too and I have fun hanging out with you. I can't make any promises as to where this is going, but that doesn't mean I don't want to find out. I just need some time."

"So you're just going to jump from him to me during that time?"

"Tommy and I are friends, so we're going to talk, I hope you can understand that. But I want to get to know you better without rushing into anything." At that, she gave him a kiss on the cheek, hoping he was content with her response, and they separated.

Jude lay in her sleeping bag later that night thinking.

Why was she so fixated on Tommy's conversation with Sadie? Was she giving Drew the run-around the same way she was getting it? She didn't want to lie to him or lead him on. And since Tommy wasn't about to come back to her anytime soon, she knew she had to let go of her feelings for him and move on with Drew, if that was possible. She fell asleep trying to count Drew's good qualities and forget all of Tommy's.

* * *

"Jude, wake up." 

Jude moaned and turned over to her side, hugging the side of her sleeping bag.

"Jude, I need to talk to you. Honey, wake up, this is important."

Jude turned back, starting to recognize the voice over her.

"Mom?"

"Good morning," her mom whispered, crouching down next to her daughter.

"What time is it?" Jude asked, sitting up.

"A little after 7:00. I need you to come into the kitchen. I have to tell you something but I don't want to disturb everyone else."

Jude nodded and stood, still squinting at the morning light. She followed her mom into the kitchen. She looked out the window on her way to see that the snow had stopped coming down.

She entered the kitchen, still half-asleep, and saw Sadie sitting at the counter looking equally tired. Jude sat down next to her as her mom stood across from them.

"Girls, I need to tell you something. I'm sorry to get you up so early but it's important," she started. Jude noticed that her mom was clutching her cell phone.

"What is it?" Sadie asked.

"I turned my cell phone on this morning—it had been off for the last couple of days to conserve the battery, but I figured I should check for messages," she explained as Jude and Sadie nodded in understanding. "Anyway, I turned it on and there was one message on there," she said, looking down, clearly getting emotional. "Girls, there's been an accident."

* * *

A/N: I know this last event might seem a bit random, but as always, I promise there's a method to the madness! You'll see how it fits in with the next update, bear with me :-) 


	21. Chapter 21

Hi--Sorry that this chapter took a few extra days to post. I wanted to get it out earlier in the week but unfortunately got wiped out by a bad case of the flu. I'm actually writing this with my eyes half closed so if it doesn't make any sense, I apologize!

Thanks again for all of your amazing feedback--I was really impressed that a lot of you knew exactly where the accident was going. You guys are so smart! It's nice to know we're all on the same page (literally). So I hope you like this next update...enjoy :)

* * *

"What? What kind of accident? Is grandma okay?" Sadie asked in panic. 

"Yes, your grandmother is fine. It's not her….," their mother started hesitantly.

"Would you please just tell us, Mom?" Jude pleaded.

Mrs. Harrison took a deep breath. "It's your father."

"WHAT?" Sadie screamed. "Oh my god, what happened?"

"Sadie, please calm down. Everything is going to be fine. Yvette left me a voicemail saying he had been in a car accident the night of the storm."

"A car accident? Is he okay?" Sadie asked, feeling the tears fall on her cheeks.

"Yes, he's okay. He was unconscious but by the time she called, he had woken up and was doing better. He broke a few bones and has a pretty bad concussion but is going to be fine."

Both Sadie and Jude exhaled deeply. Jude felt her heart still racing at the thought that something serious had happened to her father.

"Can we see him?" Jude asked softly.

"I suppose so," her mom responded, surprised at her daughter's request since Jude hadn't wanted to see their father since the divorce. "According to the weather, the roads are still very bad today but they're working on the electricity and we should hopefully be able to get out tomorrow. We can go then."

Sadie and Jude nodded, speechless and not moving.

"Guess he's pretty lucky," Sadie said to Jude, watching their mom walk towards the coffee pot.

"Yeah, guess so," Jude agreed, in a daze. She turned to look at Sadie. "It could've been worse though. It could've been…"

"I know," Sadie said, cutting off Jude's thoughts. "But it wasn't. And that's what we need to focus on. He's going to be okay," she said, wrapping an arm around her sister. They sat together in thought, watching Mrs. Harrison make breakfast. Eventually, Sadie walked over to help her mother while Jude headed upstairs.

Later, once everyone was awake, Sadie told Ryan what had happened. They embraced as she began to cry, not noticing Kwest and Tommy enter.

"Hey—everything okay?" Kwest asked.

They broke the embrace and Sadie wiped her eyes.

"Yeah. My dad was in a car accident but everything should be fine," Sadie explained.

"A car accident? Was it serious?" Tommy asked.

"I don't think so. My mom got a message from his girlfriend, Yvette, saying he's at the hospital with some broken bones and a concussion but he should be fine," she recounted. "But it gave me and Jude a scare."

Tommy looked around. "Where's Jude?"

"Upstairs. We were both kind of shook up, I think she's in her room."

Tommy immediately turned and walked upstairs, hearing Kwest ask more questions behind him. He knocked on her door, hearing soft voices inside. He heard a quiet "come in," as he turned the knob to see Jude sitting on her bed with Kat. She had clearly been crying as her eyes were red and puffy.

"Hi," he said. "Sorry, I can come back, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm okay, thanks," Jude said, grabbing a tissue and wiping her eyes dry.

"You can stay, I'm actually leaving," Kat said, standing up. "I need to go grab something for breakfast. I'll check on you later."

"Thanks, Kat," Jude replied. Kat gave Jude a hug and then took off, closing the door and leaving her alone with Tommy.

"I heard about your dad from Sadie. I'm really sorry," he said uneasily.

"Thanks. He's going to be okay. It sounds like it could've been much worse," she said, looking at him standing awkwardly at her door. "You can come in, you know. I'm holding the white peace flag today, at least until you annoy me."

He snickered and walked towards the bed, sitting where Kat had been.

"Do you know how it happened?" he asked.

"Nope. My mom just got a message letting us know about the accident. I'm hoping we can get out of here tomorrow and go see him."

Tommy nodded, "That's good." He sat there in silence, searching for something to say that would make her feel better.

"It's strange…how quickly things can change, you know?" she asked. "Like I didn't care about him yesterday but today, I feel like I need to see him," she said, tears welling up.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Things can change in an instant. My uncle had a heart attack and died a few years ago. It makes you think, how would you have done things differently had you known."

"Exactly. One minute he's there and you don't take advantage of it, and the next, everything could be gone…," she trailed, thinking for a moment. "Were you close to him? Your uncle?"

Tommy recalled him vividly. "Sort of. My Uncle Mike was the one person in my family who made an attempt to understand me."

She looked up at him. "You've never really told me about your family. Are you close to them?"

Tommy shifted on the bed, uneasy with the topic but wanting to open up to her. "Not really. They pretty much disowned me when I told them I was going to join a band and drop out of school. I talk to them on birthdays and holidays, but we're far from close."

"Do you have any siblings?" Jude asked, feeling absurd at the basic information she didn't know.

"One older sister, Kimberly. I talk to her a little more than my parents, but she's living a totally different life outside Vancouver. She's married with two kids. My Uncle Mike was the only one who understood music—he was in a band throughout most of his life but never made anything out of it. He wanted me to go where he didn't, although like my parents, he too wasn't happy to hear I was dropping out of school."

"Understandable," Jude commented. "My mom would kill me if I said that."

"Yeah, she probably would," he said with a smile. "Anyway, when he died, I kept thinking I should've called him more, kept in touch more. But you, you have a chance to spend time with your dad. I know he's made mistakes, but maybe you should give him another chance."

"Yeah, I think maybe you're right. I can't forget everything he's put us through, but I can at least try to move on," she said, faintly smiling and looking into his eyes. He reached for her hand in support of her decision. They looked at each other in silence but the moment was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," she said, as they both turned to see Drew enter. He walked in and immediately grumbled at the sight of Tommy sitting on the bed holding her hand. The two guys eyed each other across the room, Tommy not budging at the sight of him.


	22. Chapter 22

Hi again. You'll all be happy to hear that we're moving towards the dramatic peak of our story...it starts in this chapter and goes into the next. These are fast-moving,exciting chapters, so I'm hoping you'll like them. I'm also happy to report that I'm close to completing this story on my end, which means I should be able to post a little faster than I have been over the last few weeks. We still have plenty more drama to go, but my goal was to complete this story before the new season begins and it looks like I should be able to do that. Yay!

Thanks again for everyone's support and feedback. Your comments totally blow me away! You guys give me so many great ideas as to where to take this story--sometimes I literally doubt the direction I was heading when I read some of your thoughts. Thanks so much, you all seriously rock!

So without further ado, let's go back to where we left Jude with Tommy and Drew...ENJOY :-)

* * *

"Hey," Drew said to Jude, still looking at Tommy's hand on hers. "I just heard about your Dad. You okay?" 

"Better, thanks," she said. Drew stared at Tommy across her room, tension enveloping all of them. Jude looked back and forth between the two of them, not sure what to say to break the ice.

"You can come in," she finally told Drew, who still stood in the doorway. "He's not going to bite," she added, referring to Tommy, which made him smirk.

"Well, I'd kind of prefer to talk to you alone," Drew replied. "Unless you'd rather keep talking to him."

Jude felt her face flush as both of them turned to look at her. Was she supposed to pick one of them to talk to? This didn't seem right. She was the one upset. Why did she have to decide?

"Look, it really doesn't matter to me."

"No, it's fine. I'll leave," Tommy said standing up. "I'll be the bigger person here," he said quietly to Drew, walking past him.

"And I thought you were just the _older_ person," Drew sneered back.

Tommy stopped and stared angrily at him. Knowing Jude was watching and awaiting a heated response, he stepped away from Drew and turned back to Jude.

"We'll talk more later," he said calmly to her. "I'll see you downstairs."

"Okay. Quincy?" she asked as he exited the room, causing him to turn back. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," he said with a small smile, heading out the door.

Drew watched their exchange and settled on her bed.

"Was I interrupting or something?"

"Not really, he was just…telling me some stuff to make me feel better. But you _were_ kind of harsh."

"Sorry, I can't help it. He just…bugs me. I know you said you're just friends but still, he's not looking at you like you're just a friend…"

Jude blushed at this comment. She felt him looking at her and waiting for her to disagree but she sat there silently, feeling the need to move on.

"So…you wanted to talk?"

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks. I was kind of shook up before but I'm doing better now."

"That's good to hear. Think maybe you'll be up for more cards later?"

Jude got irritated on the inside, but kept a straight face. "I'm not sure Gin Rummy is what I need right now. You know, seeing as I'm going through a personal trauma and all," she said caustically.

"Wait, that came out wrong…that's not what I meant. I just wanted to take your mind off things. We don't have to play Gin Rummy. I just thought you could use some entertainment."

She realized he was just trying to help and gave him a small smile. "Sure, we'll see. Right now, I kind of just want to be alone and work on my song."

"Okay," he said, standing up. "If you need anything, I'll be downstairs."

"Thanks."

As he left, Jude sighed, letting their interaction go, and grabbed her guitar to play. She worked on the song all morning and into the afternoon, and as she strummed the last line, she felt pleased with the result. It still needed some tweaking, but she could sense the possibility of it becoming a hit. As she scribbled a few final notes, her mind gradually became more at ease, not feeling as negative about her dad and the accident. Maybe it was everything Tommy had told her about his family, or maybe it was finishing the song, but whatever it was brought a smile to her face.

She wanted to share the song with Tommy, although part of her was concerned of his reaction to the lyrics. She knew that he would assume it was about him, which it was, although most of her songs were anyway. But she hoped he could appreciate the song regardless.

She stood up, put the guitar down, and walked towards the door to go find him. As she opened it, she heard loud voices, almost yelling, coming from downstairs. She stood at the top of the stairs listening and shocked by the voices below.

"Why did you take them? The cards? They were set up like that for a reason."

"Sorry, it was just an accident. I figured no one was using them, but apparently, I was wrong. It's no big deal, man. Just chill."

"Oh really? So I'm supposed to believe it wasn't intentional? Like you didn't know that Jude and I were playing yesterday and left our cards out so we could play again today?"

"Uh, yeah, you are. You think I care what you do?"

"Yes, I do, in fact.

Jude realized it was Drew and Tommy. It sounded like a stupid argument over their stupid card game but their voices were raised and they both sounded intense.

"And why would I care?" Tommy asked to Drew.

"Maybe because anyone who gets close to your _girl_ makes you freak out," Drew responded.

"My _girl_ can take care of herself. It's you who freaks out, not me."

"Oh really? _I'm_ the one freaking out?" Drew questioned.

"Yeah, you. _You_ freak out the minute you see her alone in a room with me," Tommy said smugly.

"For her safety maybe," Drew snorted.

Then Jude heard another voice cut in. It was Ryan.

"Hey, Drew, it's not worth it. Take it from me. Just let it go," Ryan said.

"Thank you," Tommy said with relief.

"No, Tom, I don't think you get it. When I say 'let it go,' I'm talking about Jude. Let it go. She's not worth all of this."

Jude felt her anger rise at the sound of his voice. What was he saying?

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tommy asked, also sounding angry.

"I'm just looking out for my friend here. I don't want to see him wasting his time on a girl who's going to be more trouble than she's worth. Look, Jude's a great girl, but come on, all three of us know firsthand, she gets around."

That was it. Jude went charging down the stairs and stared at the scene in the living room. Drew and Ryan were on one side of the center rug with Tommy standing opposite. Everyone else was crowded around watching their outburst.

"EXCUSE ME? I get around?" she yelled at Ryan from the stairs. They all turned to look at her fuming down the stairs. She took her place next to Tommy, standing across from Ryan and Drew. She wasn't about to let him make those kinds of comments about her without a fight.

* * *

Woohoo! It's a showdown! Don't hate me, but you'll have to wait until next time to see the guns really come out... :) 


	23. Author's Note

Sorry, this is not another update to the story, but it's just as important.

I just noticed that my story is being published on The N's site under someone else's name and I am not given credit for it. The author is "asuncion," who did not request my permission to use this story as her own and I promise, this is not me. This upsets me because I've worked really hard on it and I hate that someone else has gone and taken credit for all of my ideas.

I know a lot of you have read this story, and I really hope that you've all enjoyed it so far. But I'd hate to have to stop writing because someone else is using my story as their own, so I'm hoping you all could help me out. I've already reported the author, asuncion, to the-n, but would you guys mind reporting her as well? If you don't have an ID at the-n, then no worries, but if you do, could you please help me alert them to her actions?

Sorry, didn't mean to totally flip out or anything, I'm just really upset.One of youonce askedto post it elsewhere and I thanked them, as it's nice that people want to share it, but I purposely chose to only post this story on this site, as I felt like for my first fanfic, I didn't want to share it with too many sites. I hope you all understand and can help in any way possible.

Anyway, another story update will hopefully come shortly, once this story stays on this site :)Thanks in advance—you guys are all the best.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: I hope you will bear with me—I have a few things to say before you read this chapter.

First, I need to send all of you a HUGE thank you. I was absolutely floored at the responses I got from my plea to get my story off The N's site. So many of you offered to help and posted supportive messages, I can't tell you how much it means to me. And I am happy to report that the story has been removed. If this ever happens to any of you, let me know and I will gladly send threatening notes on your behalf (provided it won't get me in jail!). Thank you so much for all of your support—I'm grateful to have such an encouraging, amazing audience here. Okay, now for the next chapter…

**Please read the following before proceeding:**

1. Congratulations! For all of you who have been reading this story from the beginning, I am thrilled to inform you that you've hit the peak, the story climax, the height of our blackout drama! Not that it goes downhill from here, but you've officially hit the motherload!

2. If you came in late to the story and have not read all of the previous chapters, **this chapter will not make any sense**. For those who have been sticking with me, I suggest taking a minute to brush up on Chapter 17. There will be mentions to things that happened during that chapter and it might be helpful if those events are fresh in your mind.

3. This is the longest chapter to date. I considered splitting it up but ultimately, I think it's better left together. I hope you agree.

I also wanted to mention Drew. I don't think Drew is a bad guy, he's just frustrated. Jude is using him, whether she admits it or not. I partly feel bad for him, but it's like Sadie says in the previews for S2, don't get in between Tommy and Jude--they always choose each other (love that!).

I'm done rambling so please sit back and enjoy the next exciting installment. This is another chapter that makes me giddy from reading it, so I hope you like it too.

_I do not own Instant Star, but hey, did you know that I do own this story? lol

* * *

_

They all stood there stunned at Jude's entrance, as she moved next to Tommy and across from Ryan and Drew. 

"_I_ get around? Like you're one to talk," she spat angrily at Ryan.

Sadie emerged from the onlookers and faced Ryan.

"What is she talking about Ryan?"

Ryan looked at Sadie. "I'm just repeating what I heard."

"From who?" Sadie asked.

"People here are saying that she gets around."

"And you believe them? And what does she mean by 'you're one to talk?'" Sadie demanded.

"Who knows? Sadie, she's just angry that I'm saying what everyone else is thinking," he lied.

Jude cut in. "I'm sorry, but didn't you say that you know 'firsthand?' Why firsthand, Ryan? It's not like you and I ever hooked up."

Ryan's eyes flashed with rage at Jude's question as Mrs. Harrison came running down the stairs in a huff. "What is all this yelling?" she said, looking around her living room. "Jude? Sadie, what's going on?"

They ignored Mrs. Harrison's presence as Jude pressed on.

"Tell her, Ryan. Tell her how you know."

Tommy, who saw Ryan's fury and noticed Mrs. Harrison standing behind him, put his hand on Jude's arm. "Jude…maybe you shouldn't…"

"No, Tommy, I have to. He can't make a comment like that and get away with it," she replied. Tommy subtly motioned towards her mom behind them, but Jude just shrugged and turned back towards Ryan.

"Ryan, how _do _you know? Would someone please tell me what's going on here?" Sadie yelled, flailing her arms in frustration.

Everyone was silent, watching Ryan glare irritably between Jude and Tommy. Ryan wanted to retreat, fearful that this conversation would reveal his own secrets.

Out of nowhere came a small yell from the back of the living room,

"Jude's hooking up with Tommy!"

They all gasped and looked towards the voice to see Kristen standing there innocently. Ryan looked at her and immediately squealed, "NO!"

Her mother's voice shot out in a shocked scream, "JUDE!"

Jude turned to look at her mom, whose eyes were wide with one hand on her chest in disbelief.

"Mom, that statement needs to be changed to the past tense," Jude clarified. "'Jude _hooked_ up with Tommy.' Past tense! As in, NO LONGER! As in, it happened like ONCE and now it's DONE!"

Her mother stood there astonished. Jude looked at Tommy, who was also taken aback by the exchange. He didn't know what to say. He wasn't mad, she had made it clear that it was a one-time (okay, maybe more than one-time) thing, and Ryan couldn't disagree since his own secrets were on the line. So no one's lives or careers had been ruined. His only consequence might be a lecture from her mom, and he could justify it as a brief of lack of judgment or stumbling into Jude in the dark.

So he did the one thing that would reassure her. He faintly smiled and beckoned for her to make the next move, saying "Go right ahead."

She smiled back, knowing exactly what he was referring to. She eyed Ryan, who was visibly nervous, awaiting her response.

Jude walked towards Sadie and opened her mouth to tell her about her boyfriend's infidelity, about how she was dating the biggest jerk to ever walk the planet, but to her surprise, nothing came out. Instead, guilt overwhelmed her, looking at Sadie's confused expression, and knowing that what she was about to say was going to crush her sister who had helped her so much.

But Sadie had to know. It wasn't fair. She deserved better.

So instead, Jude walked up to Ryan and quietly said,

"You're going to tell her."

"What?"

"You heard me. She deserves to know, but not from me. You're the one who betrayed her trust. It's your responsibility to tell her."

She then stepped back next to Tommy, tears welling up in her eyes. Tommy was stunned, almost impressed at her decision. As much as she wanted to hurt Ryan, her loyalty ultimately lied with Sadie. He smiled to himself, feeling proud for some reason, and somewhere deep inside, feeling himself melt with her.

Ryan cleared his throat and looked at Sadie. "Ryan?" she asked.

He shamefully took her hands, "Sadie, I have to tell you something, but I first want you to know that I love you."

She got nervous, not liking his start. "Okay…"

He looked down and mumbled, "I…I…" He glanced over at Jude, pleading to her with his eyes, but she, through tears, just nodded her head, motioning him to continue. He took a deep breath and began again, "I…kind of…have been hooking up with somebody else."

Sadie's eyes bulged. "What?"

"I've been with somebody else…but just here, the last couple of days. I'm so sorry," he begged.

"Here? With who?"

He grew silent, not wanting to admit his accomplice. But the small voice reappeared in the back of the living room. "He was with me," Kristen admitted, stepping forward.

"WHAT? You cheated on me with my _best friend_?" she cried, tears falling. "How could you?"

"I'm really sorry, you have no idea how sorry I am," he pleaded.

"You're sorry? That's it? You cheat on me with my best friend and that's all you can say?" she yelled. "Well, I'm sorry too. Sorry I ever trusted either one of you," she said through tears. She then charged out of the living room, ran up the stairs, and slammed her bedroom door. Ryan took off after her, screaming her name. They could hear as he pounded on her door to let him in.

They all stood speechless at the scene they had witnessed. Naturally, everyone looked towards Jude who was still in tears from her sister's reaction. Tommy wanted to hug her, but maintained his distance, knowing that her mom was watching them intently.

Noticing all eyes on her, Jude suddenly hollered, "Anyone else have something to share? Any other secrets you'd like everyone to know? Because now's the time!" She resumed crying and wiped her eyes when she heard someone clear their throat. She looked around at who was trying to get her attention and saw Jamie step forward.

"Jude? I have to tell you something."

Jude looked perplexed. "Jamie, that was a rhetorical question! I didn't expect anyone to actually have something else to say!"

"No, Jude, it's not what you think…or maybe it is but…I'm not cheating on anyone, but I am, sort of, with your best friend."

"What? But Jamie, you _are_ my best friend," Jude responded, totally clueless.

"No, Jude, your…_other… _best friend," Jamie said, motioning towards Kat behind him, who smiled nervously.

Jude opened her mouth in shock, disbelieving that this secret was kept from her.

"You have got to be kidding me…"

"I wish I were," Jamie replied quietly.

Her mother, who had finally recovered from the shock of Jude and Tommy's admission, stepped forward, grabbing Jude's arms from behind.

"Okay, I think we've had enough for the day. Jude—kitchen. NOW," she instructed forcefully, pushing her daughter away.

Watching Mrs. Harrison steer her daughter towards the kitchen, the group stood there looking totally and completely stunned. No one even knew where to begin.

After a few moments of silence, Kwest mumbled, "Am I the only one in this house not getting any action?"

Tommy shook his head at him and walked into the dining room, as the rest of the group slowly dispersed throughout the house.

* * *

Okay, everyone breathe with me...whew...hope you enjoyed! 


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: I'm so happy you guys seemed to like the last chapter, I was really worried if you would since so much happened. I had been thinking about how odd it was that Mrs. Harrison was removed from all of the action even though she was in the house the whole time, so she made her entrance in that scene to get caught up. This next chapter is much calmer, kind of a breather for all of us, but I promise, there's still more excitement to come! Thanks again for all of your amazing feedback--your comments keep me totally inspired! Enjoy :-)

* * *

Mrs. Harrison dragged Jude out of the living room and pushed her into a chair at the kitchen table. She looked at her daughter, who had a stunned expression on her face from the news that Jamie had revealed. She let out a deep sigh and sat down in another chair. 

"Jude," she began, "Are you alright?"

Jude silently nodded, staring at the table in a semi-catatonic state.

"I realize that whole situation must've been hard for you. Jamie dating Kat, your sister and Ryan, and your father…I suppose a lot has happened over the last 48 hours." There was still no reaction from Jude, so she continued. "Jude, I'm here for you if you want to talk."

"Thanks," Jude muttered, blinking and snapping out of her stupor.

"I have to tell you," her mother admitted, "I'm still troubled by the secret that came out about you." Jude looked at her mother blankly, so her mom added, "About Tommy."

"What about it, Mom? I already told you it's over."

"You did, but I still have some concerns. Jude, I know you and Tommy are, well, close. But if he tried anything or made you do something you didn't want--"

"It wasn't like that," Jude cut in, racking her brain to think of an explanation that would assuage her mom's concerns and avoid her potential suggestion to separate them as artist-producer.

"It was my fault actually," Jude continued, piecing together a solid explanation. "I kissed him. He had nothing to do with it. In fact, he was the one who stopped it."

Her mom furrowed her brow in thought. She clearly was contemplating whether or not this explanation was feasible.

"So this was _your_ doing?" her mom asked with a bit of surprise.

"Yeah, it was all me. I'm stupid, I know, but something possessed me to do it so I did. He cut it off but Ryan and Kristen saw it all happen. It was really embarrassing," she explained, putting her hands over her eyes to look like she was recalling a painful memory.

"So he didn't pressure you or anything?"

"No, Mom, I kissed him! He had nothing to do with it!"

Mrs. Harrison relaxed in her chair, empathizing with her daughter's angst.

"I'm sorry, I just assumed…forget it, it doesn't really matter. Jude, if it's too uncomfortable for you to go back to the studio with him—"

"No, Mom, we're fine. We talked about it and I already apologized. He's fine with it and so am I, so it's done," Jude said, not letting her mom finish. "Can we not talk about this anymore? I'm kind of trying to forget it ever happened."

"Sure, honey," her mom agreed.

"Do you mind if I go upstairs? I'd like to be alone for awhile," she said, getting up.

"Sure," her mom replied, also rising and giving Jude a hug. "I love you, honey. No matter what you do."

"Thanks, Mom. I love you too," Jude said, relaxing in her mother's arms.

Jude took off up the stairs and went into her room, ignoring Ryan who was still parked outside Sadie's door. She closed her door and collapsed on her bed. The afternoon's events were swirling around in her mind. She sighed with relief, having successfully justified her and Tommy's "one-time" kiss. But her sister…she felt so bad for what had happened with Sadie. She knew that making Ryan tell her was the right decision but it hurt her to know that her sister was in pain. And then there were Jamie and Kat. How could they have not told her?

After staring at the ceiling for what felt like hours, she heard a knock at the door. She didn't feel like talking so she didn't say anything. But she heard the doorknob turn regardless and then saw Jamie's head peek through the opening.

"Hey…got a sec?"

Still looking up, Jude angrily muttered, "If you must."

Jamie walked in and closed the door.

"Jude, I'm really sorry. I meant to tell you earlier, I really did, but there was just never a good time."

"Never a good time? Jamie, you could've told me while I was going to the bathroom. Even that would've been better."

Jamie sighed. "I know, you're right. In hindsight, it wasn't the smartest decision to tell you in front of everyone, but I just felt like I needed to get it out. I'm really sorry."

She sat up silently as he continued. "We never wanted to hurt you. Can you forgive me? I'm a huge idiot. And not worthy of your friendship."

She sighed, knowing his plea was sincere. "So you and Kat? Second time around?"

"Yeah. Kat says that the whole 'third time's a charm' thing doesn't apply to this situation and that we can only go for two, so I promise this is the last time we'll be having this conversation."

Jude thought for a moment, then said, "What can I say, Jamie? I'm really upset about how I found out. But for you and Kat, I think it's great."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I actually agree with Kat. Second time might be the charm. I want you both to be happy, I just wish you had a little more faith in me."

"I know, you're right. Any other secrets I tell you, I promise, will not come out in a room full of strangers."

"They better not. If you do this again, I'm going to announce to whoever's around how long you sucked your thumb. Thirteen is not normal," she said, with a small smile.

Jamie looked horrified and shushed her. But then he looked at her smile and grinned back. "Thanks, Harrison."

"So," she started, changing topics. "Anything interesting happen after I left? Anyone come out of the closet or anything?"

Jamie laughed and said, "No, everybody basically separated. It's so quiet down there, it's scary. Except for when Drew got annoyed at Tommy for taking his peanut butter sandwich. It was like our 2nd grade cafeteria…minus the hair nets."

"Seriously?" Jude asked, to which Jamie nodded. "Wow, Drew's got to relax."

"In his defense, he just found out that the girl he likes is getting it on with someone else."

"Not getting it on," Jude clarified. "We kissed, no big deal."

"Right," Jamie said sarcastically. "Jude, you forget that we all witnessed your make out session during Truth or Dare. I hardly believe that another kiss was 'no big deal.' You're like an open book and not a very good liar."

"That's funny considering I created this whole story for my mom and she actually believed it." Jude replied, noting Jamie's confusion. "You don't want to know."

"Okay, then. Anyway, I'm not the biggest Tommy Q fan but he actually kept his cool."

"Really?" Jude asked with surprise.

"Yeah, it was shocking. He just shrugged and walked away, even when Drew continued to yell at him. Is he on meds?"

Jude chuckled, "I don't think so. Face it, Jamie, our little Tommy Q is growing up."

"Now that's scary," Jamie said with a laugh.

* * *

That's it for now. I know, not too much happened, but don't worry, we're just gearing up for their last night together! 


	26. Chapter 26

Hi all--I'm back again. Here's our next update, which moves our story along a little more than the last one. Couple quick things: Italics are part of a dream sequence. Quick but cute. And as always, you guys truly are the best readers ever. Some of your comments totally make me think more about the direction of the story, which is really helpful since I'm clearly biased. So keep 'em coming, you all are amazing! And with the new previews for Season 2 (major T/J cuteness!), I'm feeling more inspired than ever. So hope you enjoy :-)

* * *

Jamie left Jude alone in her room. She felt better about at least one of the secrets she was forced to deal with, but she didn't want to head downstairs yet and face the crowd. So she grabbed her portable CD player and lay back on her bed. She felt thankful for batteries as the sound of Green Day echoed in her ears. Without thinking, she slowly drifted off to sleep… 

_She was walking along a path in the park. On her left was Tommy, holding her hand. As they approached the lake, he turned towards her._

"_Isn't this nice? Just you and me. No paparazzi or parents or studio execs to bother us."_

_She sighed and looked around. "It is nice, isn't it?" She looked at him and stood up on her toes, leaning in to give him a kiss. As she went to stand back down, he grabbed her and pulled her back up to him, kissing her with greater intensity._

_Catching her breath, she lowered back to the ground and said, "What was that for?"_

"_Just making up for lost time," he said with a grin. She grinned back at him, looking into his eyes, as he leaned forward and gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead._

"_I love you, Jude. I have for a long time," he said softly._

"_I love you, too," she returned, making him smile. He swiftly pulled her back up and resumed kissing her..._

Jude, half-asleep, heard knocking on the door. She suddenly shot up, Green Day still blasting in her ear, and saw Tommy standing before her.

"Whoa, girl, it's just me," he asked, taken aback by her abrupt reaction.

She tore off her headphones and stopped the music. She looked at him, questioning whether her dream was real or not and stared around her room in disappointment.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, watching her.

"Yeah, just a dream…" she replied, feeling his eyes on her. "Sorry, hi," she said, coming back to reality.

"Hi," he said. "You've been up here all afternoon. I wanted to make sure you're alive."

"Barely," she said with a smirk.

He walked over and sat on the edge of her bed.

"So I had an interesting talk with your mom," he started.

"Oh no, what did she say?"

"Something about how you explained everything and how she respects me for stopping the kiss that _you _apparently initiated."

Jude blushed, remembering her lie. "Yeah, well, I had to say something."

"So you said that _you _kissed _me_? And that _I_ stopped it?"

"Yup. Pretty good, right?"

"I don't know…you accepted the blame for it."

"It was the only thing I could think of that would cover all of her concerns and not make her run to Georgia to request a new producer." She looked at Tommy and added, "I thought it was a really good cover. I figured you'd be impressed."

He gave her a small smile and said, "I am. It _was_ really good thinking. But you could've let me handle it."

"But then you would've accepted the blame and we wouldn't be here right now," she quickly retorted.

He looked at her and understood her reasoning. "I guess you're right. It was quick thinking and I am impressed. But thanks, I appreciate it. Did she say anything to you?"

"Not really," she replied, recalling her conversation. "Just that she loves me, no matter how stupid I am."

He couldn't help but laugh at her response.

Just then, the door opened and Sadie peeked inside.

"Hey, guys. Got a minute?"

Jude leapt up off the bed to greet her sister. "Sadie! Come in."

Tommy stood to leave, assuming they wanted to talk alone. "I'll just be—"

"No, it's okay," Sadie cut in. "You can stay. Since you both were witnesses anyway."

"Are you okay?" Jude asked, staring at her sister's troubled expression and pulling a chair over for her.

"I will be."

Jude and Tommy glanced at each other anxiously.

"Sadie…we're really sorry…we wanted to tell you but we couldn't," Jude started.

"Ryan threatened to go public about us if we mentioned anything to you," Tommy concluded.

Sadie listened and nodded. "I don't blame you. I just can't believe who I've been dating all this time…I thought he was such a great guy, that he really cared about me…but it was all a lie. And Kristen, I don't think I can even look at her right now."

"So don't," Jude replied. "They're both idiots for losing your trust. They're the ones who should feel bad, not you."

"Sadie, Ryan's a jerk. He's two-faced and manipulative. Not somebody you should beat yourself up about," Tommy offered.

"I know, you're right," Sadie agreed, still in thought. The three of them sat in silence for a few moments.

"Guys suck," Sadie suddenly declared.

"Here, here," Jude agreed.

"Umm, hello? You do realize I'm sitting here too?" Tommy asked sarcastically.

"So? You're the worst of them," Jude replied, half grinning.

"Here, here," Sadie agreed with a smile.

"I'm not worse than Ryan. I never cheated on you," he said to Sadie, to which she tilted her head at him skeptically. "Okay, well, not physically at least," he admitted quietly, to which Jude blushed and looked away.

Sadie sighed. "Okay, this is getting too weird, even for me," she said, standing up to leave. "Oh, wait, I never asked--what happened with Mom? Did she totally flip about you two?"

Jude and Tommy both smiled. "Nope. She was actually fine with it," Jude replied.

"What? How did that happen?"

"Well, I sort of fudged the story…she doesn't think anything really happened, so she's fine with it."

"And she's not calling Georgia to get you a new producer?" Sadie asked doubtfully.

"Nope," Jude confirmed.

"Wow, I'm impressed. Whatever you said, it must've been good. Ahh, the things we do for love…," Sadie said with a small smile.

Jude's eyes grew wide and before she could yell anything at her sister, Sadie said, "And on that note, I'll see you two later." She promptly exited Jude's room and closed the door.

Tommy and Jude sat there uncomfortably, as Sadie's comment brought tension to the room. From nowhere, Jude recalled the details of her dream, making her feel more nervous, but pushed it aside, changing topics.

"I have good news," she announced.

"What?" he asked.

"I finished a song."

"Jude, that's great. Can I hear it?"

"Well, it's kind of rough, it needs more work, and not all of the chord changes—"

"Just play it," he instructed glancing towards her guitar.

Sighing, Jude got off her bed and walked over to her guitar, grabbing her notebook. She dragged them both back to the bed and sat down.

"Ready?" she asked hesitantly.

"Whenever you are."

She started strumming a few chords and began to sing softly,

"Sometimes I give in to sadness  
Sometimes I don't--"

In the middle of singing the first verse, Jude ceased playing, as they were both suddenly startled. They looked around in awe at what they saw: the lights had come back on.


	27. Chapter 27

Hi--hope everyone is having a good week. I am **so** excited for the backstage pass tomorrow, so in its honor, here is the next chapter. I'm very impressed with those of you who were able to spot the song I'm using from a line and a half. You guys are good! The full song will be in the next chapter and it may offer a small spoiler about what's to come if you read the lyrics. I'll just say that it hits a nerve :-) So here is our next part...hope you enjoy! And thanks so much again for all of your feedback!

* * *

Jude stopped playing the moment the lights came on. She heard muffled cheers and clapping coming from the main floor. 

"Lights!" she shouted, tossing her guitar aside and standing up with Tommy. Excitement taking over her, Jude jumped on him in a hug. He, slightly taken aback, hesitantly wrapped his arms around her. She slid back to the ground, disengaging from the embrace. He looked at her beaming face and felt like her enthusiasm was contagious, smiling himself. She walked over to the vent near her desk and shouted, "Heat! There's heat!"

"That usually comes with electricity," he responded sarcastically.

She smiled and rolled her eyes at him. "Oh stop, you know you're excited too. Let's go downstairs."

"Why? More vents down there?" he smirked.

"Very funny. I just want to join in on all the celebrating."

"Okay," he agreed, opening the door and letting her exit.

They made their way downstairs to see everyone congregated in the living room hugging and talking. Jude noticed that everybody was celebrating except Ryan and Kristen, who were in the dining room rejoicing on their own. Jude ran up to Jamie and hugged him and then her mom and then Steven. She even hugged Drew, who pulled away awkwardly, clearly not at ease with their earlier encounter. Finally, she made her way to Kat.

"Isn't this great? I've never been so happy to see a few lightbulbs working," Jude exclaimed.

"I know! It's like a miracle, only it's really just the electric company doing their jobs," Kat responded with a smile. She quieted down, feeling the need to apologize for withholding the truth of her relationship. "Jude, I just want to say, I'm sorry about before and for not telling you about Jamie. I should have been honest with you, I should have—"

"Don't worry about it." Jude cut her off. "Honestly, so much has happened over the last few days, some of which was pretty traumatic, but you and Jamie—you two were the least of it all."

"So you're not mad?"

Jude looked at her and smiled. "No, I'm happy for you. But you have to promise me—no more secrets. I couldn't stand seeing what happened with Sadie and Kristen happening to us."

"That will never happen," Kat confirmed. "Besides, it's just Jamie. Let's face it, he's no Brad Pitt."

"And that would make you Angelina?" Jude asked with a laugh.

"Of course. Just without the lips," Kat said, joining her in laughing.

Eventually, everyone relaxed to watch TV while Jude's mom pulled together dinner. Instead of sitting around the kitchen table, she distributed plates with their meals to each of them sitting around the TV.

"Let's watch a movie," Kat suggested to the group, minus Kristen, Ryan, and Drew, who were in the dining room playing cards. Everyone nodded in agreement. "We could watch something snow-worthy. Like White Christmas? Or Snow Day?"

Everyone groaned at her ideas and Jamie teasingly threw his napkin at her.

"We don't even have those movies, Kat," Jude responded.

"So what do you have?" Kwest asked.

Jude looked towards Sadie. "I don't know…Sadie has her mushy chick flicks."

"And Jude has her comedies that she thinks are funny but I think are lame," Sadie finished.

"They are funny! You just need a better sense of humor," Jude said with a smile at her sister.

"Where's the collection? Can I see it?" Kwest asked standing up.

"I'll take you," Sadie replied. She stood up and he followed her upstairs.

"I'll make some popcorn," Jude offered, heading into the kitchen. Jamie and Kat followed to help her as Tommy went to grab a sweatshirt upstairs. No one bothered to invite Ryan, Kristen, or Drew, who took note of the action but stayed away.

About 10 minutes later, they all reconvened in the living room. Sadie claimed the chair, while Jamie and Kat collapsed on the couch next to Tommy. Kwest laid down on the rug. Jude entered holding a big bowl of popcorn and handed it to Kwest, asking, "So? What are we watching?"

"A classic," Kwest answered. "Goonies."

"One of my favorites," Jude said, taking a seat on the ground in front of Tommy. As the movie started and Sadie dimmed the lights, Jude leaned back against his knees. She turned around and quietly asked, "Is this okay?"

He smiled and looked down at her, "Of course."

She turned back towards the TV and smiled, making herself comfortable against him.

About an hour into the movie, Jude's mind started to wander. They were only hours away from leaving and so much had transpired over the past few days. Her sister had become her friend, her best friends had become more than friends, and her producer—well, that had gone in one direction and then back again. She had had a few good talks with Steven, her mom's boyfriend, while her dad had suddenly become an important figure in her life.

Feeling overwhelmed by her thoughts, she stood up and quietly walked into the kitchen to find her mother reading a magazine. She approached her mom and silently gave her a hug.

"Jude? What is this for?" her mom said, caught off guard.

"For the last few days. You've done so much for us, Mom, I just wanted to say thank you."

"Well, you're welcome," her mom responded with surprise.

"It couldn't have been easy coming up with meals for us and making sure we were all okay, so thanks for everything."

Her mom smiled. "It wasn't easy, but it was nice spending time with you."

Jude smiled. "I'm going to head back, I just wanted to tell you." Her mom watched her leave, delighted at her daughter's gesture.

On her way into the living room, Jude bumped into someone in the dim light.

"Oh, sorry—" she said, looking up. "Quincy. What are you doing?"

"Getting more popcorn," he said showing her the empty bowl. "What are you doing?"

"Just saying hi to my mom. I love this movie but I've seen it a zillion times."

"Yeah, me too," he agreed. "Although you just missed the part where Chunk and Sloth meet."

"My favorite," she said. "With the Baby Ruth?"

"Right," he said, recalling the scene he had just watched. "Hey, I have an idea. Since you can basically quote this whole movie, do you want to skip it? I really want to hear your song."

Her eyes lit up at the suggestion. "Yeah, that sounds great. I'm having trouble concentrating anyway."

"Okay, let me just drop this off in the kitchen," he said, referring to the empty popcorn bowl.

Seconds later, he came back and they headed up the stairs together quietly. On her way up, Jude made eye contact with Sadie, who gave her an approving nod and smile watching her with Tommy. Jude shrugged and continued up the stairs to her room, closing the door and looking at Tommy standing before her.

* * *

_A/N: I do not own anything associated with The Goonies, that's all Steven Spielberg. But I highly recommend seeing it if you haven't. It's the best!_


	28. Chapter 28

Hi, again. I have good news for all of you that I really hope will make you happy. Because you have been the greatest readers **ever** and have been incredibly patient with this story, you're about to get your reward -some really really good Tommy/Jude chapters! There's enough cuteness coming to make even the biggest Tommy/Jude skeptics smile. I still smile reading them, so I hope you do too! There is also some more "mature" content in the upcoming chapters, so please be warned.

I have been looking for a song for this fanfic since I started writing and I decided on "Everything" by FeFe Dobson. I felt that the lyrics were perfect for this story, so I hope you'll agree. I slightly edited the lyrics (I just took out one verse) to keep it as concise as possible, so I hope FeFe doesn't mind.

So without further ado, here is the start of what you've all been waiting for! BTW, I do not own anything created by FeFe Dobson. ENJOY:-)

* * *

Tommy flicked on a lamp in the corner of Jude's room as she grabbed her guitar and sat on the bed. He sat down across from her and waited patiently for her to begin. 

"Well?" he asked watching her sit there not moving. "Ready?"

"I guess so," she said, suddenly feeling nervous. She took a deep breath and started playing. He sat there motionless, taking in each note as it pervaded the room.

Her voice softly started flowing along with the chords:

_"Sometimes I give in to sadness  
Sometimes I don't  
At times I'm part of the madness  
Sometimes I won't  
Give in to you  
You see in a way  
I have been drifting down a river  
To nowhere  
And you've given me nothing  
_

_But if you're ready to be my everything  
If you're ready to see it through this time  
And if you're ready for love then  
This I will bring  
But I'm not gonna wait for you forever this time _

_Are you waiting for a special occasion  
To give me your heart  
Cause I need a little confirmation  
To make a real start  
Don't wait till it's too late  
Are you ready to show me?  
Are you ready to love me?  
_

_You see in a way  
I have been drifting down a river  
To nowhere  
And you're giving me nothing  
_

_And if you're ready to be my everything  
If you're ready to see it through this time  
And if you're ready for love then  
This I will bring  
But I'm not gonna wait for you forever this time"_

She lightly strummed the last few chords and brought the song to an end. She looked up at him as silence filled the room. She couldn't read the expression on his face.

"That bad?" she asked softly.

"What?" he asked, in his own world. "No. No, sorry," he said, visibly flustered.

"Then what is it?" she asked, totally confused by his reaction.

He put a hand through his hair, trying to formulate words. "I…I think…it's great, Jude."

"Really?" she asked, not believing him.

"Yeah," he confirmed, a little firmer this time. "It's great. Really."

"Then why do you look like you're going to be sick?" she asked.

He shifted uncomfortably and without saying a word, Jude realized what the issue was. He got it. He got that it was about him. He got what she was trying to say.

"Listen," she said, hoping to ease his concerns. "I wrote this a couple of days ago when things were, you know, different." She didn't know what else to say. He wasn't moving but he wasn't talking either. She just looked down at the bed, half embarrassed, half confused.

He watched her play the whole song, putting all of herself into it as she had always done, but this song shot like a pistol through his heart. Here was the girl he had been trying to get to trust him, only this wasn't the girl who had entered the house a few days ago. Through all of the drama during their time together, she had somehow managed to grow up, leaving him as the immature one. She handled everything that was thrown at her, where he had just run from it all. He looked at her now, staring down at her comforter awaiting his response. And sensing her frustration, her uncertainty, he just wanted to wipe it all away and start fresh.

So he reached out and grabbed her guitar and slid it out of her hands. He laid it gently on the floor and looked back at her, bewilderment and dejection in her eyes. In one swift move and without a word, he closed in on the space between them. She still seemed confused as he leaned in and softly pressed his lips against hers. He had never felt so certain of himself and his decisions as he felt her soft lips sweep against his. She was taken aback by his actions, cautiously kissing him but not letting herself fall deeper into it.

He pulled back, sensing her concern, and rested his forehead against hers. He took a deep breath and quietly said, "I'm so sorry."

She was stunned, not at all expecting any of this. She could hear his rapid breathing as their heads touched. "For what?" she asked sincerely.

He pulled his head back and looked at her, gently touching her cheek. "Jude, I'm an idiot."

She smiled and said, "Well, yeah, I already knew that."

"No," he said, holding her hands. "I'm really an idiot. Like bigger than Shay idiot."

"Okay…" she said, not understanding.

"What happened yesterday in the basement, I got freaked out about being caught. And instead of handling it calmly and rationally, I let the situation get to me and drive me away. But you were right. It wasn't about the risks, it was about being ready to fight for what you believe is right."

"Which is?" Jude asked.

He held her hands tighter and looked into her eyes. "Jude, I don't want to let you go again. I made the mistake of letting you get away before, I can't let it happen again."

She sat there speechless, unreadable. "What are you thinking?" Tommy asked.

"I don't know. It just seems like—how do I know you're serious this time? All of those risks and consequences still exist, but you suddenly don't care about them? I guess I'm just not convinced."

He gave her a small smile and said, "Okay, well maybe this will help convince you," as he leaned over and brought his lips to hers once more. She hesitantly returned his kiss and then felt the butterflies resurface in her stomach as his tongue brushed against hers, deepening the kiss. She circled her arms around him as he held the edges of her face, touching her cool skin. He kissed her passionately, with so much feeling and devotion. He put his entire self into it, desperately wanting to convince her of his genuine intentions.

She leaned back to lie down, as he followed, positioning himself partly on top of her and continuing to kiss her intently. She absorbed the smell of him, a mixture of muskiness and butter from the popcorn. He kissed her cheeks, the edge of her jawline, and the side of her neck.

But out of nowhere, a feeling of doubt invaded her thoughts. She was letting him back—just like that? Could it really be this easy? He could kiss her and make all of his mistakes disappear?

Feeling his fingers graze her stomach, she brought her hands to his, causing him to look up, as she said quietly, "Wait."

* * *

_A/N: Don't kill me! There is a point to the end of this chapter, I swear! And I promise, I won't let you all down._


	29. Chapter 29

Ok, I'm back. Firstly, I appreciate the lack of death threats after the cliffhanger in the last post-I seriously was nervous that you'd all hunt me down! As promised, this post and the next few will make up for it, but please be warned, this chapter also has a cliffhanger. It's smaller than the last one, but it's still there.

Quick note: I borrowed a line in this chapter from the movie "Kissing Jessica Stein." I know it's random but I was really touched by this part in the movie and it works here too. So I don't own anything associated with that movie.

Also, I'm writing another fanfic that I think will be a one-shot. So keep your eyes open for it--the tentative title is "WhereYou Lead." Just figured I'd let you all know.

I'll shut up now since I'm thinking you're all probably eager to read...thanks for your feedback and I hope you enjoy! Lots of T/J cuteness...I'm trying not to disappoint...:-)

* * *

She brought her hands to his, causing him to look up, as she said quietly, "Wait." 

Tommy immediately stopped and moved off of her, looking flustered.

"Sorry, I just got carried away," he explained, sitting up.

"No, it's not that," Jude said, carefully sitting up too. "I just...I need a little more than this."

"What do you mean?" he asked, not sure what she was referring to.

She took a deep breath trying to compose her thoughts. "I sat here a couple of nights ago and told you everything. How hard this past year has been for me and how I feel about you now." He looked down, knowing what she was about to say. "I appreciate everything you've said up until now, but I can't do this again without you letting me in a little more. There's got to be more going through that head of yours."

"I don't know what else to say…" he started.

"Yes, you do," she said, grabbing his hands. "I need to know how you feel about me."

Silence set in as he fumbled with her hands.

"Jude…you know how I feel about you," he uttered, recognizing the weakness in his response.

"Do I? Sometimes I think I do but just when I think I have you figured out, you hurt me again or run me around in circles. I honestly don't know what I mean to you anymore."

He saw the distress in her eyes and knew he needed to open up once and for all. He shifted on the bed, running his fingers through his hair and breathing heavily.

"I…I don't know…I just…" he started awkwardly.

She sat there silently, patiently. Her request was reasonable but not easy for him—as talented as he was as a songwriter, he was still a guy and talking about his feelings was like a foreign language. She saw him struggle and grabbed his hands, causing him to stop trying to speak and look at her.

"Hey," she said, staring into his eyes. "It's just you and me here. No one else. Talk to me."

He looked into her eyes and felt his focus return. He took a deep breath and leaned his head in, resting his forehead on hers. He released her hands to start stroking her hair.

"I just…," he started again, feeling like his heart was going to jump out of his chest. He took a deep breath and then said softly, "I'm crazy about you."

She smiled, still leaning against him and hearing his rapid breathing. "Really?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah," he said, pulling back to look at her. He held her hands again and added, "I'm totally crazy about you."

She beamed at his confession. He continued, feeling the weight lifted from his chest.

"I care about you. A lot. Probably more than I should. Definitely more than I've ever cared about anyone." Jude swallowed, feeling a lump form in her throat, as he went on. "Last year, when I chose Sadie, I hated myself for hurting you. I had managed to push away the one person that I wanted to be close to. And seeing you with Jamie, it killed me. I hated it and not because he's a bad guy, he's not, but because I was actually jealous of _him_."

Jude looked at him with confusion. "I know, shocking, right?" he asked, seeing her reaction.

"Anyway," he continued, "it made me realize something. I loved seeing you happy but I didn't want to sit on the sidelines watching you smile over some other guy. I wanted to be happy with you, I wanted to be the reason why you were happy. Jude, I want to be the one to make you happy."

She sat in awe, trying to comprehend everything he was saying, as the tears started to roll down her cheeks.

"Wow," was all she could say, clearly blown away. After a few moments, she asked, "So everything Sadie said, it was all…true?"

"Yep, all of it," he admitted. "And I told her that yesterday. Along with an apology. I chose Sadie because it made more sense, on paper at least, but I learned pretty quickly that she wasn't the one I wanted to be with. She wasn't you," he said, gently wiping away one of her tears. "I didn't want to hurt her either, but I managed to hurt you both."

She nodded, still in shock. She couldn't believe what he had told her.

He interrupted her thoughts, curiosity getting the better of him. "So, how was that? Still feeling like you don't know how I feel?"

"No, that was pretty good," she said with a smile, wiping her eyes. "Very convincing, Quincy. Did you already use that speech or something? It came out pretty easily after a little pushing."

"Oh yeah, that was one of the many in my book," he joked. "You know, my book on how to win over your dream girl."

She smiled, not questioning whether she fell in to this category. He looked at her smile and edged in closer to her. He lightly touched her cheek and asked, "Do you want to hear more?"

She looked into his blue eyes and softly responded, "No, I think you said enough."

At this, he smiled and leaned in, pressing his lips against hers once more. She immediately embraced him, bringing him in closer to her and feeling a rush of emotion. He held on to her tightly, eagerly taking hold of her mouth. She slid back to lie down, holding on to him, feeling his weight against her. He broke the kiss momentarily and looked into her eyes, seeing the tears still there.

"I want to do this, I want to give us a shot," he said, kissing her tenderly.

"Really?" she asked in disbelief, to which he nodded. "But how?"

"I don't know…the reality is that people aren't going to understand. And even though I don't care what anybody thinks, we do have to live and work with them. So I guess it's up to you. As much as I want this to happen now, I don't want to force you to lie to the people around you. We can either put this on hold for a few months and give it a real shot then, or we can start now and just keep it as a secret between us," he said, watching her look away in consideration of both options. "Hey, there's no pressure. I'm going to be happy with either one."

She thought for a few moments and looked up at him. Here was the guy she wanted to be with more than anything and it was actually going to happen. Could she wait? But could she lie to her family, her friends? To Kat and Jamie, who she had just been upset with for lying to her? But looking into his eyes, knowing that he was going to be there for her regardless, she knew what choice she had to make. She knew she couldn't do it any other way.

* * *

_A/N: Please don't kill me again! Come on, what would you do if you were her?_


	30. Chapter 30

Hi. I'm sorry to keep you all waiting--I tried to post this last night, but I kept getting a server error (grr!). Anyway, I feel really bad having not only made you wait through 30 chapters but to leave you with two cliffhangers in a row was just plain cruel. I hope you can forgive me! But the good news is there will be NO MORE CLIFFHANGERS! And I'm hoping you'll be happy with Jude's decision. Thanks so much for staying with me, you guys are the best! Here you go...ENJOY:-)

* * *

Jude looked into his eyes and smiled. 

"Tommy, we've both spent the last year denying how we feel and putting everybody else first. Well, if this is going to be my decision, then I think it's time to put us first," she said, picking her head up from the pillow to give him a kiss.

He gave a small smile, trying to remain composed. "So then, you're really okay with not telling anyone? Not Sadie, not your mom, not Jamie or Kat?"

"Yes, yes, yes, and yes," Jude confirmed, going through each person in her mind. "Don't get me wrong, they are all really important to me, but they're not going to get it. Even in 5 months, do you really think they're going to do cartwheels and jump for joy for us?"

Tommy nodded in understanding, knowing that everyone would certainly be quicker to disapprove than actually give them a chance.

Jude continued, "So why wait if the reaction is going to be the same? Besides, they want me to be happy. In this case, that requires a little fudging of the truth. Which you know I'm very good at."

He smiled at her. "I know you are, it's frightening."

He glanced down, trying to maintain his focus and not get swept up in the moment. Before he could be fully happy with her decision, he needed to make peace with his remaining concerns. He shifted to a seated position on the edge of her bed, she following his actions, recognizing his thoughtful expression.

"If we're going to do this, there are a couple of things I need to say. Jude, the next five months are going to be far from ideal. We're not going to get to spend as much personal time together as we'll want and we can't give anybody reason to think there's something going on."

"Okay," she said attentively.

"And we're keeping this a secret mainly because of the whole age thing, right?" he reminded her.

"Right," she agreed.

"Well, technically, we're not doing anything wrong by dating. Even though most people would still think it's wrong, it won't be. But Jude…I want to be with you, like really _be with _you, but I don't want to rush into anything. Especially because if we do, this is going to become a lot more complicated."

"Okay…" she replied, making sure she understood his reference. "So you want to…wait?"

He nodded uneasily. "Yeah, I guess I do. If we wait, these next five months will force us to take our time, which is a good thing. I want to make sure it's right and that you're ready."

She looked at him skeptically. "You really want to wait 5 months?"

He smiled. "You don't think I can?"

"No, it's just that I can't believe you're the one saying this. I always imagined this moment as _me_ saying that _I_ wanted to wait," she said with a small smile. "I never thought it would be the opposite."

"Me neither," he said with a chuckle. "This is going to require more will power than I've ever had, but I really want to try. If you decide you're ready earlier, we can discuss it then, but I want to start this with the expectation that we're going to wait the full time."

She nodded and said quietly, "I think that sounds perfect."

He exhaled deeply and shifted closer to her. "Listen, things might get tough, but we're going to have to trust each other completely if we want to make this work. We need to stick together. Be a team."

"We're the best team I know," Jude replied with a smile. "It's like you and me against the world."

He laughed. "A little over the top, but I'll go with it." He looked into her eyes with a grin, feeling like his concerns were quelled, and lightly brushed her cheek. "You're sure about this?"

She nodded. "Positive."

"Good," he responded, moving in even closer to her. "I don't know what I would've done if you had chosen the other option."

She smiled, his lips millimeters away from hers. "I wouldn't have done that. Besides, you were pretty tough to resist."

"That was the point," he whispered, smiling and leaning further in to unite his lips with hers. She threw her arms around his neck, as he grasped her waist, pulling her in to him. They fell back on the bed carelessly, blissfully. They both let all of their concerns and reservations go as they kissed and held each other into the night, securing the official beginning of their secret relationship.

* * *

Jude lay fast asleep with a smile glued on her face, as Tommy lay next to her watching her. She had the blanket pulled over her, having basically taken the entire thing and leaving him with the edges. He could see the strap of her bra peeking out over the side of the blanket and smiled to himself, still in disbelief at their new relationship status. He lay on his side, watching her breathe, and looking at a few strands of her hair on the pillow that shone in the moonlight. He reflected on the past couple of years that he had known her. How much she had changed him, without even trying. How much what he had confessed that night was true—he really did want to make her happy. He wanted to forget about all of his past mistakes and start fresh with her. She would be his first real relationship, the first person he ever truly wanted to love and to love him. 

That's when it hit him. It was more than just being crazy about her—he loved her. More than anyone else he'd ever been with, anyone he'd ever known. He cared so much about her and wanted to protect her from all of the bad things around them. He would do anything for her. He felt his stomach churn at the realization and knew immediately that it was true.

He looked at her asleep and edged in closer, running his hand down the side of her face along her hair. He leaned in, kissing her lightly on her forehead and whispered quietly to her, "I love you, Jude."

She stirred, hearing his voice and slowly opened her eyes to see him looking down at her. She smiled faintly at him and put her hand up to his cheek. He appeared to be confused, not knowing whether or not she had actually heard him.

She looked into his eyes and quietly said, "I love you too, Quincy." He smiled warmly at her and then leaned in to capture her lips. He put his head down, facing her, and wrapped his arms around her, she returning his actions. Embracing each other, they slowly drifted off to sleep, this time, both of them having smiles plastered on their faces.


	31. Chapter 31

Hi! Okay, I'm on a posting streak tonight...here's the next chapter and since many of you asked--no, this story is not over yet. However, there are only 3 more chapters plus an epilogue to go. I'm actually kind of sad to see this story come to an end, I've grown to really like it, and you guys have been so supportive of it the whole time. It amazes me, you all are truly the best. I'm considering doing a sequel but it depends on how much time I have and how inspired I am by the new season!

But it's not over yet. In fact, aside from the whole Truth or Dare chapter, this next update might be my next favorite. Nothing really happens, it's just so cute and sweet, I love it. I'm clearly a romantic and overly sappy! This is the last scene in Jude's room that night/morning--after this, we go back to the rest of the house. I hope you all love it just as much as I do. So without further ado...Enjoy!

* * *

The buzz from Tommy's watch echoed in their ears promptly at 6:15am. They both heard it but neither one moved. 

"No…." Jude mumbled quietly, not wanting to budge.

It continued to chime, as Tommy groaned and sat up, grabbing the watch and turning it off. He looked down at Jude, who was in the same position she had been when they had fallen asleep, arm draped over the bed where Tommy had been laying. He gently brushed her hair out of her face and sighed, not wanting to get her up. He leaned over and placed soft kisses along her ear and her cheek, causing her to grin in her half-asleep state. She shifted on to her back with her eyes still closed and wrapped her arms around him. He continued to trail kisses on her cheeks, her nose, and then her lips. She kissed him back through her smile, still not opening her eyes. After a few minutes of kissing affectionately, he pulled back, resting his head on her shoulder and looking at her.

"Can you wake me up like that tomorrow?" she asked softly, still grinning.

He chuckled quietly and said, "Sure. You take care of your mom and I'll be here."

She hesitantly opened her eyes, blinking a few times at the ceiling before turning to look at him. She smiled at him and brought her hand to his face, feeling the roughness of his unshaven skin.

"Hi," she said, still somewhat in disbelief that he was actually there with her.

"Hi," he returned, reaching up to hold her hand that was stroking his cheek.

She continued to grin looking at him, desperately not wanting to get up. She turned on her side and moved in closer to him, so that her head was up against his chest. She sighed and put her arms around him, he returning the gesture and kissing the top of her head.

"Can't we just lock the door and stay up here?" she asked earnestly.

"We could, but that may require a lot of explaining once they realize we're in here."

"Good point. Guess that's not such a great idea."

"Not unless you're ready to give up so soon."

"Me? Give up?" she asked, pulling back to look at him. "I'm not giving up. Sorry, Quincy, but you're stuck with me now."

"I thought I was stuck with you before."

"You were. Now it's just more."

"I think I can handle it," he replied with a grin. "Besides, you're stuck with me too. If you think I was a perfectionist before, just wait. Now my expectations are higher."

"Oh great. Now instead of fifty takes, it'll be a hundred," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Maybe, but that means we'll be in the studio longer," he said suggestively.

"Ohhhh…," she said, realizing where he was going. "Okay, well then, a hundred takes it is."

He laughed and pulled her in closer. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her, gently at first but then intensifying it by sliding his tongue into her mouth. She gripped his t-shirt and followed his lead, falling deeper into the kiss. He held on to her and shifted to hover over her, seizing her lips and kissing her hungrily. She slipped her hands under his t-shirt and ran her fingers along his bare back, feeling the curves in his body as he moved with her. He felt chills go up his spine at her touch, as his hands trailed down her back to the clasp of her bra. Starting to undo it, he suddenly realized that her mom would be awake shortly. Resisting the urge to keep going, he freed his hands and pulled back slightly.

"We probably shouldn't," he said breathlessly. "We only have a half hour."

She nodded in understanding, though disappointed. He then turned over on his back next to her, exhaling deeply. They lay there speechless, not wanting to move but knowing that they had to. He reached for her hand and held it next to him.

"We have to get up," he said, muttering the dreaded words.

"I know," she said regretfully. Neither one budged.

She turned on her side to look at him. "Five more minutes?" she asked sweetly.

He smiled back at her and pulled her arm, bringing her closer to him.

"Five more minutes," he agreed as she settled against him once more in an embrace, trying to savor their last few minutes of peace together.

* * *

Five minutes later, like clockwork, they were both up and cleaning up the room. He made her bed while she pulled herself together. Once the room was back to normal, they went towards the door. He opened it slightly and saw that the house was completely empty.

"It's all clear," he whispered, back inside her room and holding on to the door.

"Okay," she said with a deep breath. "Ready?"

He looked at her standing before him, her hair messy but eyes glowing. "No," he said stepping in to her and giving her one more kiss. He then stepped back up to the door. "Okay, now I'm ready."

She smiled at him and grabbed his hand. He slowly opened the door, peeked outside again, and then stepped out, with her following. They quietly made their way down the steps. She felt sad knowing this was the point at which they had to separate and stopped to look at him as they reached the edge of the living room. She glanced around, making sure everyone was asleep, and stood up on her toes to give him a quick kiss goodbye, followed by a tight hug.

He smiled at her gesture and leaned down towards her ear to whisper, "Love you."

She melted at his words and visibly blushed. She leaned back into him and whispered back, "Love you too." They gazed at each other for a few moments, gave each other one final kiss, and separated, watching each other retreat to their respective rooms.


	32. Chapter 32

Hi there. Before I start, I have to say that I am truly blown away by all of your responses! I was really worried about your reactions, especially since I basically made you wait 30 chapters for them to get together...it sounds like most of you were happy with the outcome and you have no idea how excited I am to hear that! Your feedback has been incredibly supportive and amazing. I honestly would never have made it this far into the story without all of your inspiration!

Anyway, here's the next chapter. Since our story is winding down, not too much happens over this next chapter. It's like the buzz from the night before. The next couple of chapters until the end are more for closure of certain storylines that were introduced in previous chapters. So don't expect too much drama, but more wrapping up some loose ends. Hope you enjoy regardless :-)

* * *

Tommy and Jude gazed at each other for a few moments, gave each other one final kiss, and separated, watching each other retreat to their respective rooms. 

Two hours later, Jude lay in her sleeping bag smiling to herself, reflecting on her night and morning. She replayed their last moments together repeatedly—him telling her that he loved her and she returning the words. She thought over how their secret was going to change everything, how it was going to be lying to everyone around her, but how the lying was going to be totally and completely worthwhile. Her only ounce of sadness was that it had taken them three days stuck in the house to finally get together and now they had to leave.

She heard stirring around her and glanced up as Kat and Jamie were sneaking up from the basement. In her daze, she had failed to notice that they were missing. She made eye contact with them, feigning disappointment with a "tsk, tsk" sound. She stood up and tiptoed her way towards them, leading them into the kitchen to talk.

"So…where are you two coming from?" Jude said, trying to act serious but smiling.

"We…couldn't sleep…so we went downstairs to, umm, play Monopoly," Jamie mumbled, clearly lying.

Jude looked at him skeptically, as Kat cut in. "We were downstairs. You know, to be alone."

"Thank you," Jude said to Kat, rolling her eyes at Jamie's lame excuse.

Kat then looked thoughtful. "Wait a second, miss. Where were you all night? Jamie and I snuck downstairs around 3 and you weren't here." Jude stood there silently grinning, thankfully having already worked out her excuse.

"Come to think of it," Jamie added, "Little Tommy Q wasn't in his sleeping bag either. Hmm..an odd coincidence perhaps?"

"Oh stop," Jude said. "We went upstairs last night so I could play him my song. And we ended up talking for awhile. Like all night."

"Talking?" Kat asked doubtfully.

"Yes, just talking," confirmed Jude. "That's it. Sorry, no good details."

"So no Truth or Dare reenactments?" Jamie asked.

"Nope. I honestly don't think anything's going to happen until I'm 18. And even then, who knows where we'll both be or who we'll be with," Jude responded with a shrug, hoping that this would convince them.

"Well, your whole jealousy approach seemed to be working," Kat offered.

"Yeah, but I think I'm done with that," Jude confessed. "I like Drew, but not like that. And it's not right to lead him on."

"Wow, pretty mature, Harrison," Jamie said. "Looks like someone grew up overnight."

Jude just smiled, considering the irony of his statement. She decided to change subjects.

"So, it looks like we may actually be getting out of here today."

"And on an even better note," Jamie said, approaching the pantry closet, "We can actually toast our Pop Tarts."

"Good thinking!" Jude exclaimed, walking over to pull 3 out of the box.

As they sat at the counter eating their toasted Pop Tarts, Mrs. Harrison and Steven entered from the back door, covered in snow.

"Where were you?" Jude asked.

"Shoveling the driveway," Steven responded, taking off his jacket and helping Jude's mom take off hers.

"There's at least 2 feet of snow out there," Mrs. Harrison added, removing her hat and gloves. "We're going to need some help shoveling if you want to get out of here today."

"No problem," Jude said. "We'll help after breakfast." Jamie and Kat nodded in agreement.

The rest of the group slowly filed in, Sadie first and then Kwest and Tommy. Ryan, Drew, and Kristen entered silently, still being ignored by the rest of the group. Tommy and Jude made eye contact across the room, both smiling, but Jude quickly looked away, slightly paranoid that people would suspect something.

Finishing their Pop Tarts, they got up from their seats to start getting ready to shovel. Passing by Tommy, Jude stopped. Kwest was talking to Sadie and the ignored threesome was eating separately at the kitchen table, so no one was listening. She looked at him and noticed bags under his eyes.

"Rough night?" she asked softly with a smile.

"You could say that," he responded, smiling too. "Why do you not look tired?"

"Because, I don't need sleep," she said jokingly. "I'm just naturally this beautiful."

"Oh really? Well, I don't think you'll get any arguments here," he said quietly. "Where are you off to?"

"I'm going to shovel snow. My mom needs help so I figured I'd be a good daughter. Want to help?"

"Sure," he agreed. "I realized this morning that the Viper has been stuck at G-Major for the last 3 days. It's got to be totally covered in snow."

"Awww, that's kind of depressing. I'm sure it's fine though."

"Yeah, I hope so. I'd hate to think that something happened to it."

"You and that car," Jude said, shaking her head. "I don't know how you survived without it the last few days."

"Well, someone else took my mind off of it," he muttered almost inaudibly.

She grinned at him and then said at normal volume, "I think we're heading out in a few minutes if you want to come. I should go get ready."

He nodded, as they smiled at each other for a few moments and she turned to leave.

As she was getting ready in her room, there was a knock on the door. The door opened and Drew was standing there.

"Drew," she said, surprised by her visitor.

"Hey," he said uncomfortably. "Can we talk for a minute?"

"Sure," she said, zipping up her sweatshirt and sitting on the bed with him.

"So yesterday obviously didn't go like I hoped it would," he started.

Jude nodded. Recognizing that he was about to start a long speech, she decided to cut him off and say what she needed to say.

"Listen, Drew, I know things have been kind of crazy lately, but I think maybe it would be better if we were just friends."

"Friends?" he asked, a little taken aback. "Okay, I mean, that's cool."

"I hope you understand. It's just that a lot has happened over the last few days and—"

"It's okay," he cut in. "I was actually going to suggest that too, I'm just surprised you said it first."

"Really?" Jude asked, surprised.

"Yeah. With everything that was said yesterday, I just think maybe it's better if we don't get involved right now."

"Exactly," she agreed. They both sat there, still surprised and in silence, not sure what to say next. Breaking the awkward moment, Jude leaned in to hug him.

"Thanks for these last few days. It really was fun hanging out with you."

"No problem. I had a good time too," he said. He then got up and retreated towards the door. "So I'll see you around?"

"I'll see you," she responded, watching him turn to leave.

Only one thought went through her mind as she stood alone in her room:

_Wow, that was seriously the easiest breakup ever._

Smling to herself and putting on an extra pair of socks, Jude headed downstairs to help shoveling.


	33. Chapter 33

Hi, I'm back. I apologize for going off my schedule for this story--I had aimed to have it completed by the time Season 2 started but it looks like it'll be a little after that. What did you all think of the premiere? I definitely thought it was different than Season 1, it had a totally different feel. I liked it, I think I just have to get used to it, ya know?

Anyway, back to our story. I now officially have 1 chapter after this and then an epilogue, so we are sadly approaching the end. I'm thinking more seriously now about doing a sequel, I have a few ideas, but it would definitely be different than this story and many others where Tommy and Jude are together. No promises, but I think it might be a strong possibility. This chapter is semi-uneventful but has some cuteness in it, so enjoy :-)

* * *

Putting on an extra pair of socks, Jude headed downstairs to help shoveling. Standing by the door were Jamie, Kat, Kwest, and Tommy, all getting their coats on. She grabbed her boots and put on her coat and hat. Ready to go, they all exited silently. She could barely see between her hat and scarf and once they got outside, all she saw was snow. But she followed Jamie towards the driveway and saw Steven standing there with shovels. 

"Here you go," he said, offering a shovel to each of them and retreating to work on the back walkway.

They shoveled the driveway all morning, barely speaking, determined to get rid of all of the snow. Jude stopped for a few moments, looked around and stretched. She went to the side of the driveway and leaned against a huge snowbank.

"And what do you think you're doing?" Tommy asked, seeing her stop.

"Resting for a minute, Mr. Slave Driver," she responded with a glare.

"There's no resting here, missy," Jamie yelled, hurling a shovel full of snow towards her.

"Jamie!" she yelled, jumping out of the way and missing all of the snow. Kat laughed at her, which Jamie noticed.

"You think that's funny? Then you're getting it too," he said, picking up another pile of snow on his shovel and tossing it at Kat. She unfortunately wasn't as quick and the snow landed flat on her head.

"Okay, Andrews, you're dead," Kat said, shaking off the snow. She bent down and picked up a handful of snow and threw it. But Jamie ducked out of the way, so her snowball landed right on Kwest.

"Ok, you're both going down," Kwest said, dropping his shovel and picking up more snow to throw at them.

Jude stood watching and giggling as the three of them threw snow at each other. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Tommy leaning over and creating his own snowball, looking right at her.

"Oh, no you don't," she said, moving away from him. She took off as he came closer, only she couldn't get very far because of the unshoveled snow. She got towards the end of the driveway, when she felt the cold, wet snowball hit her cheek. She turned around to see him laughing. She smiled at him and leaned down to pick up snow of her own.

"What's so funny?" she asked approaching him, snowball in hand.

"You couldn't get me even if you tried," he said smugly, walking backwards.

"Wanna bet?"

He turned around and bolted. She went after him, seeing Kwest nail Kat with another snowball. He slowed down, approaching the side of the driveway. She crept up behind him and instead of throwing the snow, gave him a quick shove, driving him head-first into a giant snowbank next to them. She exploded with laughter as he wiped the snow off his face and turned towards her.

He held out his hand and said, "Help me up?"

She regained composure and went to help him when he tugged on her arm and pulled her down with him.

"That was way too easy," he laughed, watching her push the snow out of her eyes.

"Truce?" she asked, watching him pick the snowflakes from his hair.

"Truce," he agreed, shaking her hand.

They both lay there unable to get up, watching Kwest, Jamie, and Kat run around. He looked at her smiling next to him and grabbed her hand, giving it a quick squeeze. As she turned to look at him, he brushed some snow out of her hair. She grinned at him, but then looked around to make sure no one was watching them. He took her cue and pushed himself up off the snowbank, then helped her up.

They brushed the snow off and returned to shoveling, as Jamie, Kat, and Kwest also calmed down to continue their work.

An hour later, they had finished clearing the driveway and stood inside, removing the wet layers. Jude's mom brought them all into the kitchen to join Sadie, Ryan, Drew, and Kristen, and handed them mugs of hot chocolate.

"I just spoke to Yvette," Jude's mom said to Jude as she sat at the table. Everyone stopped to listen as Jude turned to face her mom. "She said he's doing much better today and we can go see him this afternoon."

"That's good," Jude said, relieved.

"And we can take Steven's Jeep," her mom continued.

Jude looked around. "What about everybody else? How are they going to get back?"

"Well, we can drop some of you off on our way," her mom offered to the group. "And the rest of you will have to walk back to your cars. Ryan and Kwest's cars should be in the same area, so Steven can go with you and make sure you get off okay."

They all nodded at this procedure. "We can head out after lunch," she added, taking the empty mugs over to the sink.

Jude sighed and silently stood up, walking into the living room. She started to roll up her sleeping bag as she heard someone behind her.

"Hey, you okay?" Tommy asked, approaching her.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she said, folding her blanket.

"You sure? You don't look fine," he responded, as she stopped folding to look at him.

"It's just my dad. I'm worried about seeing him."

"Why?"

"Well, we didn't exactly hit it off the last time we saw each other," she said, remembering the painful dinner with her dad and Yvette where they all were silent the whole meal. "I'm just not sure how to act around him anymore."

"Just be yourself," Tommy suggested. "It'll come naturally once you see him."

"I don't know…over the last year, looking at him has only made me angry," she replied, crossing her arms in frustration.

"Well, you're starting fresh with him. Think of it like a new chapter in your life. Whatever happened between you two is in the past."

She thought about his advice for a moment. "But what do I say to him?"

"Anything. Jude, he's just going to be happy to see you, he's not going to care what you say," he told her, reaching out and holding her crossed arms.

"You think?" she asked skeptically.

"Yeah, I do," he said warmly, as she uncrossed her arms and he held her hands.

She gave him a small smile. "Thanks. I guess I needed to hear that."

"No problem. If you want, I can come with you. If it'll make it easier."

She smiled at his offer, touched by the thought. "Thanks, but I think I should do this by myself. That's really sweet though."

"What can I say? I'm just a sweet kind of guy," he said with a smirk.

"I guess you are," she agreed, pulling him in for a hug. "But I won't repeat that. I wouldn't want to destroy your tough guy image or anything," she added with a grin, letting go from the hug.

"Very funny," he said, gently pushing her and watching her giggle. He sighed and casually wrapped his arm around her shoulder, as they headed towards the kitchen for lunch.


	34. Chapter 34

So here it is...it makes me sad actually posting this chapter, as this is technically the last in the story. As I've said, there will be an epilogue that goes along with this chapter, which I should be able to post tomorrow after a few minor tweaks, but then this story is officially done. The good news is that the new season comes back on Friday and I'm still definitely thinking about doing a sequel after all of your incredible feedback and support. So we're not really done, we're just beginning :-)

This chapter is a little longer than the others in order to tie up some remaining loose ends. There is a little more action in this scene than the last few, which should help to make it go quickly. Thanks again for all of your reviews! You guys have no idea how happy it makes me to go on here and read them! So here we go, our last scene before they all leave...ENJOY!

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Mrs. Harrison served the group their final lunch together, as they talked around the table about their plans, who they wanted to see, where they would go first. As lunch ended, they all wandered back to the living and dining rooms. They rolled up sleeping bags and blankets, gathered candles and flashlights and clothing. Few words were spoken as the remaining items were picked up and Mrs. Harrison began vacuuming the floor. 

Jude walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water and saw Sadie sitting at the counter with her cell phone.

"Hey," Jude said, filling her glass.

"Hi," Sadie responded, shutting her phone. "Jude, we need to talk."

"Oh no, not another confession…"

"No, it's not like that. I've made a decision and I need to talk to you about it."

"Okay, what is it?" Jude asked curiously.

"I've decided to transfer schools. I'm going to start at McGill University in Montreal in the Fall."

"What? Where did that come from?" Jude said, feeling her heart drop.

"It's something I've been thinking about for awhile and with everything that happened with Ryan and Kristen, I could use a fresh start. And McGill has an amazing Journalism program."

Jude nodded, listening to her rationale. "Wow, Sadie, I guess that's great then. If it's what you want."

"It is," Sadie confirmed with a smile. "It'll be nice to get away, you know?" Jude nodded but looked down, visibly disappointed. Sadie saw her reaction and said, "Hey, Montreal's not far. You'll _have_ to come visit me."

"Okay," Jude agreed, more cheerful. "That could be fun." Jude then walked over to her sister and gave her a hug. "I'm really happy for you, Sadie."

"Thanks," Sadie replied. "Besides, it's not like I'm leaving you all alone. You'll have a special _someone_ to keep you company while I'm gone."

Jude grinned and looked away. Sadie continued, "Don't even try to deny it. I knew it the second I saw you two go upstairs last night. You know, he talked to me a couple of nights ago. I've never heard somebody gush like he did about my little sister. It was really sweet."

Jude blushed, not meeting Sadie's eyes. Sadie added, "You don't have to tell me anything, but just know that if you ever want to, I'm here for you and I wouldn't say anything."

Jude looked at Sadie and smiled warmly. "Thanks, Sadie. That means a lot."

Finishing their talk, Jude walked back into the living room, as Jamie and Kat approached her.

"We're going to take off," Jamie said.

"How are you getting home?" Jude asked Kat.

"Jamie's parents are going to take me. You guys have enough people to take home."

"Okay," Jude agreed.

"Well, I guess we'll see you at school?" Jamie asked.

"School, ugh," Jude said, having conveniently forgotten about this part of her life.

Jamie leaned in and gave her a hug. "Thanks for letting us crash here the last few days."

"No problem, you guys know you can crash here anytime. Even without a blizzard," Jude said with a smile.

"Thanks," Kat said, giving her a hug too. "For everything."

Jude nodded and ushered them to the door. "Bye, guys."

"Bye," they both said, walking out the door and down the driveway towards Jamie's house.

Jude turned around to see Steven gathering the rest of the group to walk back to their cars. She started saying her goodbyes. She gave Drew a quick hug, while Ryan and Kristen awkwardly thanked her for her hospitality. She just nodded at them and continued on. She stopped at Kwest and gave him a big hug.

"You're going to be okay in such a quiet house?" Kwest asked as they pulled apart.

"I'll manage," Jude said with a smile. "At leastnow I won't have to wait in line for the shower."

"True," he agreed. "So I'll see you tomorrow at the studio?"

"I'll be there."

She turned to the last one in line, Tommy. They looked at each other for a few moments, Jude trying not to show her sadness at seeing him go.

"So, how are you getting back to the studio for your car?" Jude asked.

"Kwest is taking me. I'm going to help him dig out his car and then he's going to help me with mine."

Jude nodded in understanding. "Well…" she started.

He looked around and saw Mrs. Harrison and Sadie starting their goodbyes. Making sure they weren't being watched, he took her hand and quickly dragged her back into the laundry room. Before she had a chance to ask what he was doing, he grabbed her and pushed his lips onto hers. Her questions were silenced as she closed her eyes and conceded to the warmth of his breath and smoothness of his tongue against hers.

After a few moments, he ended the kiss and looked at her. She stared back trying to catch her breath.

"Did you really think your goodbye was just going to be a friendly handshake?" he smirked, seeing her reaction.

"I…guess not," she replied breathlessly. "I clearly still need to get used to this."

"Is it really going to be that tough?" he asked.

"What do you think?" she said with a grin, circling her arms around his waist and pulling in for a hug. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a light kiss.

Still in the embrace, she quietly asked, "Will you call me later? I just want to make sure you get home okay."

"Of course," he responded. "I have to call you. Otherwise, I'm going to go through withdrawal."

"We'll see each other tomorrow," she reminded him, pulling back. "Oh, who am I kidding? That's too long," she said, coming back into the hug.

He sniggered and held her for a few more moments before she pulled back, saying unhappily, "I know, time's up."

"Don't look so sad. You said it yourself—we'll see each other tomorrow," he said soothingly. "And if you need anything later with your dad, just call me."

"Okay, thanks," she replied. She looked into his eyes and he gently kissed her one last time. He smoothed out her hair and said quietly, "I love you, Jude."

She smiled, she would never get tired of hearing him say that, and returned quietly, "I love you too, Tommy."

He smiled affectionately at her and then turned to leave. They walked back into the living room, seeing everyone waiting around.

"And where were you?" Kwest asked loudly, as they approached.

"Umm, we were…" Tommy started.

"In the laundry room. Tommy thought he left some clothes so we had to sift through the laundry, but he has it all," Jude lied. Tommy just stared at her, in awe of her lying ability.

"Okay, let's get going," Steven announced. At that, they all headed out. Tommy squeezed Jude's hand and gave her a smile before stepping out with the group.

Jude watched him leave with the rest of the group and stood alone in the living room, waiting for Sadie and her mom to go to the hospital. She looked around and took a deep breath. Everything was about to go back to normal—back to the studio, to school, to her daily routine, but she would always remember the time they had all spent together. Thanks to a little snow and being stuck for 72 hours in her own house, she felt refreshed, renewed, and ready for whatever challenge life threw at her next.

* * *

And they're off! But wait, there's more...come back tomorrow for the Epilogue, our final scene. Hope you enjoyed!

:-)


	35. Epilogue

Hi - so this is it! The grand finale - the epilogue. I hope you all enjoy how this story is going to end. I've tried pretty hard to get it right, so I really hope I don't let you down! Definitely let me know what you think.

BTW, I don't own any part of Instant Star, the TV show, but I do own all of the previous 35 chapters (35! This story is long!). Also, check out the next post for info on the sequel...hope you all ENJOY :-)

* * *

Jude closed the white door, smiling at her dad through the glass, and walked down the hallway. 

"Well?" Sadie asked, putting down her magazine and standing as Jude approached.

Jude nodded, tears in her eyes. "It went well."

"Good," Sadie said. "Did you talk to him?"

"A little," Jude said, sitting down with Sadie. "He was kind of tired, so we didn't talk too much, but I told him about the blizzard and how we were all stuck together, and then he asked about my album and how things are going. It was good overall."

"Is Yvette still in there?" Sadie asked, looking down the hallway towards his room.

"Yeah, she is. And Mom came in too, which was awkward. That was when I decided to leave."

Sadie nodded, suddenly hesitant to visit him herself. "Is he…did he look…"

"He looked fine, Sadie," Jude said assuredly. "Like himself, just with some casts. If you want to see him, you should go now. I think he'll probably be asleep in under 10 minutes."

Sadie stood up and sighed. "Ok, I'll be back," she said, as she slowly walked down the corridor towards her dad's room and gently pushed open the door, escaping from view.

Jude relaxed in the green chair, staring out the window. It actually _had_ gone well. She wasn't angry with him, more thankful that he was okay. He genuinely seemed happy to see her, as his eyes lit up when she first opened the door. And the best part—they had discussed doing a weekly dinner, just the two of them, once he was allowed to go home. She smiled at the thought, knowing he was really making an effort to improve their relationship.

Trailing off in her thoughts, she felt her phone vibrate in her bag on her lap. She searched through the bag to find her phone and saw Tommy's picture on the front. Smiling, she opened the phone.

"Hey," she said quietly.

"Hey you," he replied on the other end.

Standing up, her eyes met one of the nurse's dismissive stare. She immediately spun around, searching for the exit sign. "I'm not really supposed to be talking on my cell phone in here, so hold on one sec."

"Okay," he said.

She quickly made her way towards the exit and pushed open a set of double doors to step out into the cold.

"Okay, sorry. One of the nurses was about to go all Russell Crowe on me," she said, as he laughed.

"No problem. I just wanted to see how things were going."

"Everything's good. I saw my dad, he looks okay, just tired."

"And did you talk to him?"

"Yeah. We talked for awhile actually. It was nice."

"No yelling or arguing?"

"Nope. It was relatively calm. Yvette was there too, and I was even civil to her. You would've been proud."

"I am proud," he replied. "I think it's great you had the courage to go see him in the first place. I don't know if I would've done the same thing."

"Well, I wouldn't have ever thought I'd be here either, but it's funny what happens when things take a turn for the worst."

"That's probably true," he commented reflectively.

"So enough about me, how's the Viper?" she asked with a smile.

"It's fine. It was completely covered in snow, I seriously couldn't even see it. And I had a little trouble starting it, but once it got going, everything was fine."

"That's good. I was worried about it, you know."

He let out a small laugh. "I'll pass your concern along to the car, I'm sure it'll appreciate your thought."

She laughed too. "Thanks. And Kwest got off okay too?"

"Yeah, his car was totally fine. We had to help Ryan though, his door was frozen shut."

"You should've just left him there," Jude replied, half-joking.

"Right. I'm already on his hit list, that probably would've moved me up to his number one target."

She laughed, peering through the hospital window at the lobby where she had just been sitting.

"Well, I should probably get going. Sadie's visiting him now, I want to be there when she gets out."

"Okay," he replied.

"But I'll definitely call you later, okay?"

"Sure," he said. "Tell your dad I hope he feels better."

"Thanks, I will," she said, kicking her foot against the curb. "Tommy?"

"Yeah?"

"I miss you."

He paused - she knew he was smiling on the other end. "I miss you too, girl."

Jude smiled, and then watched through the window as her mom and Sadie entered the lobby.

"Oh, I have to go, I see my mom and Sadie," she said hastily.

"Okay," he agreed.

She paused, in thought, before saying, "Thanks…for everything."

"No problem. We're a team, right?" he asked.

"Right," she agreed firmly. "Okay, I'm going to go. I'll talk to you later."  
"Okay, talk to you then."

She hung up the phone, looking at his picture on the front. She smiled, thinking about how different things would be now that she actually had someone she could count on. For the first time in her life, she truly felt supported and cared for. She had become so used to depending only on herself, it was a relief to know that someone else was going to be there for her, regardless of the mistakes she made or wrong paths she took. They were a team. And she was determined to make sure that this team made it to the finish line.

Grinning to herself, she walked back into the hospital to reunite with Sadie and her mom, ready and eager to hear about their visits with her father.

_The End_


	36. Thank You!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I can't say it enough, you all have been so amazing. This is my first fanfic and I cannot believe the amazing responses. I was initially hesitant topost it, not sure if anyone would like my idea, but I'm so happy knowing that most of you really liked it. I feel honored just to have anyone spend time reading it, but seeing so many of you taking interest in it still blows me away. You all kept me going, kept me inspired, and I truly cannot say thank you enough.

Since it seemed like a lot of you were interested in reading a sequel, I'm going to write it. I'm hoping to start posting next week, but I do already have a title that totally cracks me up…**Partners in Crime.** Get it? Crime? Hahahaha…sorry, I'm easily entertained.:-) It'll definitely have some good drama, but it's going to be my own take on how Jude and Tommy work to keep their secret going and where it takes them. So be on the lookout for it!

It's been a really great run and I'm sad to see the story come to a close, but we have the new season to focus on and maybe, just maybe, some of our wishful thinking will actually come true! Here's to lots of Tommy/Jude cuteness!

_Thank you again for all of your incredible support and feedback! You have no idea how much you have moved me with your comments and I can only hope that each of you is as happy with the final result as I have been in hearing from you._


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